


spilled milk

by lowkeyamen



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Family Fluff, M/M, Parents KunTen, Polyamory, Sicheng adopts a child, Single Dad Xuxi, The rest of China line are babies, Xuxi in a leather jakcet, Yangyang wreaks havoc in a supermarket
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2019-10-13 07:40:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17483996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lowkeyamen/pseuds/lowkeyamen
Summary: Sicheng wants a new brother, so he picks one up in the dairy aisle of their local supermarket.





	1. grocery shopping

**Author's Note:**

> So WayV /finally/ debuted aaaaah!! I was gonna post this on the actual debut date but I had some problems w ao3? It wouldn't let me post anything for some reason?  
> Anyway!! This is a brand new chaptered fic based around NCT's chinaline. I couldn't bring myself to exclude Renjun and Chenle uwu  
> I also decided to use Hendery's real name but not Xiaojun's bc I thought Xuxi and Xiaojun sounded rly cute aaa  
> Hope you enjoy xo

"Can you _please_ just pick one?" Kun checked his phone with a sigh. Nine minutes. Ten had been agonising over which brand of natural yoghurt to get for nine whole minutes. 

"But this one," Ten held one of the cartons up, Kunhang in his other arm, propped up on his hip, "is fat free and it has Lactobacillus acidophilus in it"

"I-I don't know what that mea-"

"But this one," he shoved the other in Kun's face, "is made with sheep milk and I've heard that's really good for you, like, it has more calcium in."

"So get that one."

"But then this-" Ten added a third carton to the mix. "Kun, this is Skyr, it's from _Iceland._ Those people are mad healthy."

Kun raised his eyebrows slightly, turning to the three-year-old sat in their shopping cart who was staring back at him with wide eyes.

"Chenle, you're lucky you have my genes" Kun whispered, hoping his husband wouldn't hear him, "your Daddy is a little crazy."

Chenle simply giggled, he didn't really know what his Papa was talking about, but he was only young, any interaction with his parents made him smile. 

"I'm not _crazy._ " Ten turned back to the pair of them, popping a couple of cartons on yoghurt in the shopping cart having finally made his choice. "I just want our babies to grow up big and strong."

Kun resisted the urge to make a quip about Ten's height, because to be fair, he wasn't exactly a giant himself. 

"Papa!"

"Oh god." Kun groaned as one of his four-year-olds caught his attention further down the aisle. Surrounded by a pool of milk. "Yangyang! What have you done?"

"I was getting milk!" The boy shouted back, stepping away from the mess he'd made. "But it spilled."

"Typical." He stifled a laugh as Renjun rolled his eyes beside him. He was only four as well, but it was more than obvious he was Ten's biological son; he could tell the dark-haired boy was going to grow up to be just like his Dad.

"Come over here! I'll go get someone to tidy up." He shot Ten a look, silently asking the younger to watch the kids while he found some poor worker to mop up the mess. He should have just come to the grocery store on his own and left Ten at home with the kids. 

"He better not be covered in it. I'm not walking around with a kid smelling like off-milk." Ten twisted his nose as Yangyang waddled over, a pout on his lips. He was only trying to help. 

"They've smelled worse. Right, I'll go-"

"Daddy!" 

Ten turned around as Sicheng called his name. He swore his eldest was just beside him. Jesus Christ he was too wrapped up in his yoghurt and- Whose hand was he holding? 

"I found a boy. He's lost."

Ten's heart leapt as he knelt, popping Kunhang down next to him. He hadn't even realised the boy was crying until Sicheng mentioned he was lost. Poor baby. 

"Hey, what's your name?"

"X-Xiaojun." The boy sniffled. He didn't look much younger than Kunhang. The poor kid must be terrified. 

"And you've lost your Mommy?"

"My- My Daddy. He was o-over there and-" The boy burst out crying again. He had wandered further down the aisle to play with a packet of something or other and by the time he had turned around his Daddy was gone. 

"It's okay, sweetie, we'll help you find him."

Ten scooped Yangyang up; silently praying the boy wouldn't get any milk on his clothes, sliding him in the seat next to Chenle. He _hated_ sitting in the shopping cart, but even he, at four-years-old could sense something was wrong, settling down without causing a fuss. 

"Babe, you go get someone to clean up here and I'll take the kids to the information desk, see if we can get them to put a tannoy out or something."

"Sure, no problem. We'll find your Daddy, Xiaojun, don't worry." Kun ruffled the crying boy's hair, hoping it would sooth him a little before turning back to his own children. "Kids, stay close to your Dad, we don't want any of you getting lost too."

The three older boys nodded, Xiaojun looked distraught. They didn't want to be in the same boat. 

"Okay, let's go. I'm sure someone can help us." Ten headed off with the group of boys, asking Renjun and Kunhang to hold onto the side of the cart, making sure they wouldn't wander off, Sicheng following, fingers still intertwined with Xiaojun's. "What does your Daddy look like?"

"He's super tall and- His hair is...fluffy."

Ten scanned the store as they walked, looking out for a panicked looking parent. How could someone just lose their kid? He had five and managed to keep them all under wraps. Just about... Yangyang may have just spilled three litres of milk everywhere and Sicheng had probably wandered off and brought back a stray but... Well, it wouldn't the first time. Helping a lost child was better than the seven-year-old bringing back a flea-ridden cat or injured bird like he usually did. 

"Hi, excuse me?" Ten tried to catch the attention of a bored looking shop assistant. "We found a little boy who's lost his father."

The girl peered over the desk, labeled customer services, before looking back up at Ten. 

"You sure he's not just one of yours?"

_Racist much?_

Ten resisted the urge to call her out. He had bigger things to worry about right now. 

"I'm _pretty_  sure I know which Asian kids are mine. I know you think we all look the same but I know who my kids are. Thanks."

Okay, so... Maybe he couldn't resist. Why would that ever be anyone's first reaction to finding out there was a lost child in the building?

"So are you going to help or what?"

"Yeah! Are you gonna help us or not?" Renjun folded his arms across his chest, trying to mirror his father's words but not quite grasping them. 

The woman simply sighed, seemingly unfazed by all of this. That pissed Ten off a little, people tended to cower when he put his 'I'd like to see the manager' voice on. 

"What are your parents' names, kid?" She leaned over the counter, addressing Xiaojun, who stared back at her with wide eyes. 

"I...I dunno. I just call him Daddy."

Ten ignored the way the assistant rolled her eyes. He would definitely be putting a complaint in tonight, and this one would actually be valid, not just because the shelves were too high for him to reach or because the cashier didn't say thank you. 

"What's your surname, sweetie?"

"Huang."

"There you go," Ten turned back to the woman, wishing he had just tried to find Xiaojun's father on his own, "can you put out a tannoy for a Mr Huang, please?"

"We'll find your Daddy, Xiaojun, don't worry." Kunhang smiled, patting the new addition to their shopping trip on the head. 

"If not you can just come home with us!" Sicheng beamed. "You can be our new brother!"

Ten simply sighed. Sicheng was determined that they were going to have another baby soon. As if they didn't have their hands full enough with five. 

"Hopefully it won't come to that, darling." He muttered under his breath, hoping this kid's father would show up soon. He was pretty sure that's not how things worked anyway; surely the police would have to get involved. They couldn't just take a random boy home. 

"Any luck?"

"Not yet." Ten tapped his fingers rhythmically on the handle of the shopping cart as Kun re-joined them, trying to keep Chenle entertained while they waited. What was taking so long? If any of his kids went missing he'd be a mess, he'd be sprinting through the store to get back to them. 

"Weird, maybe he went out to the car park to see if he's wandered out th-"

"-un!"

Kun turned as he thought he heard someone call his name, a very flustered, very tall man dressed in all black was bolting towards them. 

"Who's that?" Ten questioned. He didn't exactly look like someone his husband would know. He wasn't wearing a knitted sweater or loafers, for a start. 

"I have no idea."

"Daddy!"

"Oh my god! Xiaojun, I've been looking all over for you!"

Ten and Kun's eyebrows raised in unison as the man scooped the crying boy up. _That_  was Xiaojun's father? He looked like he was barely out of his teens. 

"I thought you left me." Xiaojun cried, arms wrapping around his father's neck as he sobbed into a black leather jacket. 

"I'd never leave you, kiddo. I told you to stay close when we're in shops. You need to stop wandering off, I was so worried."

Ten and Kun watched on as the man bounced Xiaojun slightly, trying to get him to calm down. Thank god he'd turned up. 

"I found him crying next to the string cheese." Sicheng piped up, neck craned to look up at the man. He'd never seen anyone that tall before. 

The man's eyes widened slightly, he had been so worried about his son he hadn't even registered he entire family he was with. 

"Thank you." His eyes flickered up to Kun and Ten. "Thank you for looking after him. I hope he wasn't any trouble."

"Oh, he wasn't." Ten smiled softly, hand resting on Sicheng's shoulder, no doubt his eldest was devastated that he wasn't going to get a new brother. "We just wanted to make sure he found you."

"I really can't thank you enough." He man scrambled around in his inside pocket before pulling out his phone. "Put your number in here so I can thank you both properly later."

"Oh- You don't have to do that; really, we'd hope anyone would do the same for our kids."

"No, really, I insist."

Ten blushed. He fucking _blushed._ He wasn't meant to blush. He was close to an age he'd rather not admit to aloud and he was very happily married. But this guy was... Well, he was hot. Really hot. Anyone with eyes could see that. 

He exchanged a look with Kun, who gave him a little nod. He could tell this guy wasn't going to take no for an answer. 

"I'll buy you guy's dinner or something sometime, it's the least I can do."

"Oh, okay, well, thanks."

"No, thank you. Seriously." The man turned back to his son, who had calmed down considerably now he had been reunited with his father. "We should probably get you home, huh? Wanna grab some ice cream first?"

Xiaojun nodded against his father's shoulder, tiny fingers fisted into the collar of his leather jacket, afraid to let go in case they got separated again. 

"Thanks again." The man smiled wider than Ten had ever seen anyone smile before. "Come on, baby."

"Bye Xiaojun!" Sicheng waved to his new friend - hoping that one day he'd see him again. The boy waved back over his father's shoulder. 

"Wait!" Kun called after him as he began to head off down an aisle. "We didn't get your name- In case you call."

"Xuxi." The man smiled again. Damn. That really was one hell of a smile.

"Huang Xuxi."

  

 

☆☆☆

 

Ten and Kun honestly weren't expecting to ever hear from Xuxi again. It was a nice gesture, and they knew just how grateful he was, but they would never have held it against him if he didn't get back in contact. 

But he did. Only a couple of days later. 

And now they were sat in some upscale Thai restaurant waiting for the other man to join them. 

"This is going to be terrible." Ten sighed, taking a sip of white wine. Of all the places Xuxi could have brought them to, he opted for Thai. He was yet to find a decent Thai restaurant that lived up to his very high standards of his mother's home cooked food. 

"Stop complaining, it's a free meal, right?"

"You sound like me in college." Ten scoffed. "Actually, that's what I thought before our first date."

"Well, I'm glad you were broke and hungry and agreed to go out with me."

"You're welcome." Ten smiled, pressing a quick kiss to his husband's lips. 

Nine years. Nine years they'd been together. Married for seven. And they had five beautiful kids they would do anything for. If you had have told Ten a decade ago that this was going to be his life, he never would have believed you. 

"At least we get a night off, I guess."

"That's true." Kun sighed, sitting back in his seat. He loved his kids with all of his heart but to be out in a restaurant, surrounded by adults and being able to drink wine and eat food that wasn't in nugget form was heaven. "I hope they're okay, though."

"They'll be fine." Ten nudged Kun with his elbow. "Jungwoo's looking after them."

"That's what worries me." Kun muttered, taking a sip of his own wine. "He'll probably give them cookies and ice cream for dinner because he doesn't know how to say no to Lele's pout."

"He's not _that_  bad." Ten tried to defend his best friend's honour, all the while knowing Jungwoo was completely incapable of saying no to anyone, never mind a bunch of adorable toddlers. "Sicheng would have rang us to tell on him by now if anything had happened." 

Kun hummed, not entirely convinced. He wanted to go home to complete silence; all the kids tucked up in bed so many he and Ten could spend some rare alone time together, not them bouncing off the walls. 

"Well, if they are hyper when we get home," Kun took another mouthful of wine, then another, "you can deal with them. I plan on getting pass-out drunk."

"So, what? You'll have another glass of wine, then?" Ten joked, knowing what a lightweight his husband had become since their college days. 

"I'm not _that_  bad, I can hand-"

"Hey! Oh my god, I'm so sorry I'm late, there was a problem in and kitchen and-" Xuxi plonked himself down in the seat opposite them, pushing his hair back off his face in exasperation. "Not that there's anything wrong with the food just- Chefs dropping things."

Ten and Kun exchanged a look, why was-

"Do you work here or something?"

"I'm the owner."

Kun's jaw dropped. Xuxi _owned_ this place? But he looked so young and...well, not that he would expect anyone his age to _own_  a restaurant, but if they did he definitely wouldn't expect it to look this upmarket. 

"How old are you?" Ten asked, clearly on the same page as his husband, just considerably nosier. 

"Twenty-one."

"Woah." Ten's eyes scanned the room. This was unlike any Thai restaurant he'd been in since leaving the country. It was so...clean and sleek. They usually went down the grotty street food route, but this place was classy. "And you _own_  this place?"

"Yeah." Xuxi laughed, waving a waiter over to bring them a few menus. "My parents have a place back in Hong Kong. They wanted to expand and I wanted to move to a new country, so... yeah."

"That's amazing." When Ten was twenty-one he was still going out and getting drunk five times a week before rolling in hungover to his shitty retail job. 

"Thanks." Xuxi shrugged, cheeks heating up a little. He didn't usually blush but...it was nice to be complimented. "I just wanted to be able to give Xiaojun a good life."

"He's a cute kid." Kun smiled. He figured he'd let the two of them talk while he scanned over the menu, knowing fine well how fussy he was and that he'd probably take forever to choose. "Our son Sicheng was very taken with him."

"Really?" Xuxi's eyes sparkled a little. "Maybe we could organise a play date or something. Xiaojun doesn't get much chance to hang out with kids his own age outside of school because of my job." The blonde sighed, closing the menu. He only looked out of habit; he knew exactly what he was going to have. "I feel bad for him sometimes, being an only child and all." 

"Have you and your partner ever thought of having more?" Ten questioned. He and Kun had only planned on having one or two, but they just couldn't help themselves. They made _really_ cute kids. 

"Partner?" Xuxi fidgeted slightly in his seat. "Oh- I don't- I'm not with anyone. Xiaojun's mother isn't in the picture. She...doesn't see him. I have sole custody."

"Oh." Kun raised his eyebrows a little. So, Xuxi was a twenty-one year old single dad with a restaurant? Wow. How did he manage? "You mustn't get a lot of time to yourself."

"That's why I'm single. Don't exactly have a lot of time to date." The blonde laughed softly. He couldn't actually remember the last time he'd even kissed anyone, never mind anything else. He smiled as the waiter came back over to take their order. "Just get whatever you want. It's on me."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I owe you. You saved my baby."

Kun suppressed a scoff; Xuxi was just as melodramatic as Ten was. 

"Thanks."

The three of them made light conversation as they waited for their food to come, which actually wasn't that long. Kun wondered if that was because Xuxi ran a tight ship, or if they were getting preferential treatment because they were eating with the boss. 

He chewed in silence, sparing a glance at his husband. He hoped to god Ten wasn't going to make one of his typical offhanded comments about how the food was nothing compared to back home. Please, _please,_ just let him keep his mouth shut for once. 

"Is...your food okay?" Xuxi questioned after a few minutes of awkward silence. 

Kun held his breath, knowing fine well Ten had no filter the majority of the time. 

"It's amazing."

"Oh thank god." Kun whispered under his breath, maybe not quite as quietly as he thought as Xuxi chuckled softly across the table. 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I just....know how high your standards are." _Good save, Kun, way better than calling your husband a high maintenance bitch._ "Ten's Thai"

"Really?" Xuxi's eyebrows shot up under his fringe. "And you really like it?"

"Y-Yeah." Ten smiled softly. There was something about Xuxi, he was so damn...endearing. "It's probably the best I've had since I left Bangkok."

Xuxi beamed in response. That beam that floored both Ten and Kun every time they saw it. Neither of them had ever met someone like Xuxi before. He was so full of life, so effervescent despite the fact he was clearly struggling to balance running a business and raising a child on his own. The two of them knew fine well there was no way either of them could handle that. Especially not at the tender age of twenty-one. 

"That means a lot. These are based off of my mom's recipes. She's Thai too."

"No way!" Ten bounced in his seat a little. He had assumed Xuxi was just Chinese like his husband, but, he was like a mixture of the two of them. How weird was that? "I really miss it there."

"Yeah, me too. We used to go a couple of times a year as a family, but...it's too far away now."

"Yeah." Ten sighed, taking another mouthful of rice. He would _love_  to go back home, but getting five kids to sit still for a nine hour flight sounded like hell. "We're gonna wait until the kids are a bit older to take them back to our hometowns, right?"

Kun nodded in agreement. There was no way he could cope with losing one of them in China, and knowing his kids, it was bound to happen. 

The three of them chatted as they finished off their meals, as they ordered desserts and a nightcap to finish up. Before they knew it the restaurant was shutting down around them, open late only for the owner and his guests. 

"Thank you for this, it was really nice."

"Yeah we don't get a lot of time to do...civilised, adult things." Kun laughed, shrugging his jacket on as they stood to leave. It was getting late, and no doubt Jungwoo would be bitching about having to stay over at this hour. 

"I know the feeling." Xuxi led the couple over to the door, intent on staying behind and helping his staff clear up since he'd made them stay open longer than usual. He didn't want to seem like a complete dick. "It's not often I get much free time."

Ten's heart tugged a little, he couldn't even imagine how hard it must be for Xuxi taking on all of his on his own. 

"We definitely should organise a play date sometime. Xiaojun could come over and hang out with the boys and it'd give you some time to yourself. If you're okay with that."

"Really?" Xuxi's eyes lit up at the thought. "That'd be amazing! I mean...I don't mind having your kids over too but, my place is kind of small and..."

"It's fine, really." Kun snaked his arm around Ten's waist, pulling him in closer. "Looking after one more can't be that hard, right?"

"Yeah." Ten scoffed. Their house was loud and messy at the best of times. "We're used to it."

Xuxi felt his cheeks burn up again. He wasn't used to people being so nice to him. They usually found it weird that he was a single father, let alone one who had had a kid at the tender age of sixteen. He was kind of an outcast among the parents at Xiaojun's school. They were all older than him; all had plenty of time to invest in their kids after school activities or plays or sports days. 

"That...That's really sweet, thank you. Xiaojun would love that."

"Our kids will love it too, trust me. We'll organise things properly another time." Kun smiled before the two of them left, walking hand in hand to find the nearest taxi rank. 

This was nice. Really nice. 

He and Ten didn't get a lot of time to themselves these days, and while they would change any of their kids for the world, it was nice to get away. Just for a little bit. 

"We should have booked a hotel for the night." Ten smirked, head resting on Kun's shoulder as they walked. 

"Think I'd just have to lie there and let you have your way with me. Not sure I've ever been this full."

Ten laughed softly. And Kun said _he_  was the dramatic one. 

He wished they didn't live so far away so they could just walk home, like they would in college; too skint to be able to afford a taxi. Ten always loved those nights. When no one else was on the street, just him, Kun and the stars. 

"Tonight was nice." Kun mused as they continued down the street. "We should do it again sometime."

"With Xuxi?"

"Yeah...I like him."

Ten hummed to himself. He liked Xuxi too. He was kind of sweet, in a loud, boisterous way. And he definitely admired everything he had achieved at such a young age. He knew first-hand how difficult owning your own business was. 

"I'm not sure how Jungwoo would react to having to look after an extra kid for the night."

"He'd probably quit."

"Yeah! And I need my best stylist. I can't just be stuck with Doyoung. We'd kill each other."

Kun chuckled lowly under his breath. Ten's friends were sweet. They were all completely over the top and the three of them together meant he'd be in for a night of sass and being picked on for his outfit choice, but he liked them nonetheless. 

"I like him too, though. Xuxi. He's cute."

Kun's fingers twitched in Ten's hand, hoping his husband wouldn't pick up on the subtle movement. 

_Cute._

Xuxi _was_  cute. 

Maybe a little too cute. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos are always greatly appreciated!! pls let me know what u thought ♡  
> if you wanna shout at me abt anything feel free to add me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/lowkeyamen) or on [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/lowkeyamen/) and i also have a [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/lowkeyamen) if u have any questions and bc, well, i am despo for attention pls love me uwu thank u xo


	2. playdate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels like forever since I updated this but here's a lil dose of the fluffiest Chinese-Thai family I love them so much :((

"Renjun! Be careful up there!"

Xuxi laughed to himself as Kun handed him a flask of coffee. It was a cold October afternoon and he had met up with Kun, Ten and their kids in a park near his apartment. 

"I really don't know how you cope with five; one is more than enough for me."

"You get used to it." Ten shrugged as he took a sip of his own drink. "The endless laundry, the snotty noses, the shouting when they wake up at whatever ungodly hour. It becomes a way of life." 

Xuxi shook his head softly. He honestly had no idea how they did it. 

"Xiaojun seems to be enjoying himself, anyway." Kun smiled as he leaned back against the bench they were sat on at the edge of the playground. Xuxi's son was only a month older than Kunhang and the two of them seemed to be getting on like a house on fire, chasing each other around the climbing frame, racing to see who could get to the top of the slide first. In fact, he had taken to all of their kids, regardless of age difference. 

"Yeah. He doesn't...have many friends." Xuxi frowned. That was something that was beginning to worry him. He was a lot smaller than most of the boys in his class, and he feared that maybe they were picking on him because of it, or at least excluding them from their games. Xiaojun had never said anything directly...but Xuxi was sure something must be up. He may not be as outgoing as his father, but seeing how quickly he had made friends with Kun and Ten's kids it made him wonder what was different at school. "I thought that maybe he was just shy but...he doesn't seem that way with your lot at all."

"Ours don't give people much chance to be shy. They'll force just about anyone to join in and play with them."

Ten nodded in agreement. "Believe it or not, Sicheng is the quiet one."

Xuxi chuckled under his breath as he watched their eldest stood at the top of the climbing frame, shouting at Xiaojun and his younger brothers, ordering them around like he was king of the castle. 

"Maybe he just needs someone to bring him out of his shell or something." Kun mused. He found it hard to believe that Xiaojun was _that_  shy. He seemed to be able to hold his own against their rabble of boisterous children. "If anyone can do that, it's the Qian kids."

"Papa!"

The three of them were pulled from their conversation as Chenle waddled over, hands tucked up into the sleeves of his jacket as he wrapped his arms around Kun's legs. 

"I'm tired."

Xuxi laughed affectionately as Kun scooped Chenle up. He remembered when Xiaojun was that young. He actually really missed it, even though his son being a little older and school made things easier on him. He was growing up so fast he absolutely hated it. 

The three-year-old nuzzled into his father's chest. He wished he could keep up with his brothers but they were so...big. But not as big as the man sat next to him. He gaped a little as he looked up at Xuxi from Kun's lap. He'd never seen anyone that big before. 

"Mr Xiaojun's Daddy?"

Xuxi surprised a snort as he looked down at Chenle. How was someone so young so formal? It was cute. 

"You can call me Xuxi."

Chenle furrowed his eyebrows a little. He'd never heard that word before. It seemed a little hard to pronounce. 

"Shu-si. Su-shi." He tried it out, not quite able to get it right. "Mr. Sushi, how are you so...big?"

Xuxi's stomach fluttered. Chenle was absolutely adorable. His cheeks were so puffy and his little fingers were so tiny and- Oh god. There was _no way_  he wanted another kid. He could barely cope with the one he had. And who would he even have another baby with? He shook his head, clearing any ridiculous broody thoughts from his mind. 

"I just am." He shrugged, glancing over at Kun and Ten. "I ate all my veggies when I was little like you, and drank plenty of milk so I'd grow up big and strong."

Chenle's eyes widened. Wow. So his parents weren't lying when they said greens were good for him. Maybe...he'd give them a second chance. Even if they tasted disgusting. 

"Really?"

Xuxi nodded, practically able to see the cogs in Chenle's mind wiring. A little white lie every once in a while never hurt anyone. Ten mouthed a thank you to him. Chenle was one of their pickiest kids. He'd eat nothing but chicken nuggets and chips if he was given the choice. 

"So... I could grow big like you?"

"Of course you could, baby. Sicheng's already getting tall, right? That's cause he eats nice and healthy." 

Chenle mulled over this new information for a second, wondering if it really was possible to go from being so tiny to being as huge as Xiaojun's Daddy was. Then something hit him. 

"Daddy?" He turned in Kun's lap towards his other father. "Does this mean you didn't eat your veggies when you were little?"

Ten chose the wrong time to take another sip of his drink as he choked on it, spluttering coffee all over his jeans. 

Kun snorted, holding back a laugh. Chenle did have a point, to be fair. He may only be young, but his logic was on point. 

"I'm not _that_  short." Ten whined, nudging his husband for even _thinking_  about laughing at Chenle's little observation. 

Xuxi watched the three of them with a fond smile. They were so cute. The perfect picture of domesticity. It was something he yearned for, but that was never going to happen with Xiaojun's mother, she wouldn't even acknowledge the fact she had a son, and it wasn't exactly easy to go out and meet people with his schedule. 

They watched the rest of the kids play for a while, enjoying the fact they were entertaining each other instead of crying out for their parent's attention, until the rain came and spoiled it all. 

"We should probably get going." Ten groaned, pulling his hood up. A couple of droplets he could ignore, but it was getting heavier and his hair was getting ruined. Plus, he didn't exactly want the kids to get sick... That probably should have been his first concern, really. 

"Yeah, this doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon." Xuxi stood, pulling his own hood up. The forecast had been sunny all day, this wasn't meant to happen. "Xiaojun! Come on, baby, we gotta go!"

"But Daddy!" The five-year-old whined. He was enjoying himself, plus, a little rain never hurt anyone. "We're having fun!"

"But it's raining, and I don't want you getting ill." Xuxi crouched down as his son ran over; popping his coat on before he got too wet. 

Xiaojun pouted. This sucked. Now he'd have to go home and play alone. 

"Can Xiaojun come back to ours?" Sicheng suggested, not ready for their time with their new friend to be over just yet. 

"Uh..." Kun looked over at his husband, Chenle propped on his hip. 

"Not today, sweetie. The house is kind of a mess and-"

"And we should really get home, anyway." Xuxi interjected. He appreciated Kunhang's offer but he didn't exactly want to barge into Kun and Ten's home because they felt guilty. He scooped Xiaojun up in his arms, ignoring his sons whine. "We need to get you ready, anyway. You're staying at Uncle Hyuck's tonight."

That seemed to cheer Xiaojun up a little. He _loved_ his uncle Hyuck's place. He had the best candy and let Xiaojun stay up as late as he wanted as long as he didn't tell his Daddy. 

"We'll organise a proper play date sometime, though. You'll see Xiaojun again soon, don't worry."

Sicheng sighed out a 'fine'. He figured that was better than nothing. 

"Say bye to your new friends, baby." Xuxi swung his bag over his shoulder, getting ready to leave. "I'll call you guys later; see if we can figure something out, yeah?"

"Sounds good." Ten smiled back, giving Xiaojun a little wave as the two of them made their way back to Xuxi's car. 

"Bye Xiaojun!" Kunhang called, sweater paws flapping as he waved, fingers beginning to get cold because of the rain. 

The boy waved back over his father's shoulder. Kun couldn't help but smile. He was a sweet kid. 

"Okay, boys. We better get home too."

Kun ushered the older kids to the car, Chenle in his arms as Ten followed with Yangyang in his. He didn't want them getting any more wet than they already were. Five kids with colds? No thank you. 

"So when can Xiaojun come over? He's fun!" Renjun kicked his legs in his booster seat as his Papa drove. 

"Soon, hopefully. We'll have to speak to his Daddy first." Ten was glad the kids had taken so well to Xiaojun because it gave him and Kun a reason to hang out with Xuxi. They didn't have many friends with children considering Ten had pissed off most of the moms at school. It wasn't even his fault, they just had stupid ideas concerning the end of year play last term and Ten wasn't one to let his opinion go unvoiced. As if they wanted Kunhang to play a tree. _A tree._

"It'd be nice to give him some time off while we looked after Xiaojun." Ten turned to his husband, voice lowered slightly so they kids couldn't hear. "He works a lot. It mustn't be easy being a single dad."

Kun hummed in agreement. It seemed like the least they could do to help out. 

"He probably doesn't get much time to himself." Kun thought about that for a second. "Not like we do either." He laughed softly. Between their jobs and five kids, it was rare he and Ten got any alone time. But that was different. They had planned for this life. Xuxi hadn't. 

"It would be nice for him, though." Ten mused, watching droplets of rain run down glass before being swept away by windscreen wipers. "The kids would love it too. They seem to really like Xiaojun."

"Yeah." Kun breathed, trying to focus on driving. "I really like Xuxi as well."

Ten smiled to himself, noticing the way the tips of Kun's ears turned red. Any normal person would get a little jealous or even possessive at that. But not Ten. He trusted his husband completely. They had both had crushes on other people in the nine years they'd been together, they were only human, but they had never developed beyond that. There was no way Kun would even dream of cheating on him. 

Plus...he might have the tiniest little crush on Xuxi too. He was gorgeous, caring and hard working. How could he not?

It was probably a good thing he was straight. Threesomes had only complicated things with friends in the past. 

Ten turned back to his own window, drawing patterns on the condensation with his index finger. 

"I really like him too."

 

☆☆☆

 

"Hey." Ten jumped a little as a pair of arms wrapped around his waist from behind, before settling back against his husband's chest. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course you can." Ten replied, stirring his curry sauce. That sounded a little ominous, but he wanted Kun to be able to tell him anything. Honesty had always been a huge part of their relationship. 

"I-I hope this doesn't change anything with him or the kids, but I-"

"You have a crush on Xuxi?" The corners of Ten's lips quirked up. He wondered when Kun was going to tell him about this. 

"I- You knew?"

Ten turned the heat off before spinning around in his husband's arms, not wanting anything to burn. "You're not as subtle as you think you are, baby."

Kun groaned. It was his own fault for leaping to grab his phone every time Xuxi rang, he guessed. He just _really_ liked hearing his voice. It was so deep and manly and- He was getting distracted. 

"You aren't mad?"

"Of course not! You were open with me and I love you for that." Ten smiled, leaning in to press a soft kiss to Kun's lips. 

"And I get it. This big handsome man has come into our lives." Ten's fingers toyed with the hem of Kun's blazer. "He's great with kids and he's hilarious and hardworking and his hands are absolutely massive and-"

"It sounds like you have a crush on him too." Kun's eyebrow quirked as Ten's cheeks turned pink. 

"He's hot, okay. Hot and way too young for either of us." He giggled softly. Xuxi was only twenty-one, while they were closer to thirty than Ten would ever want to admit. "His lips are great too- Imagine what a good kisser he is."

"Oh my god!" Kun's jaw dropped as Ten cackled, his face bright red because he had never thought about kissing Xuxi before, but now? He was pretty sure that image was going to be embedded into his mind all thanks to his loving husband. "You're terrible."

"That's why you love me though." Ten teased, stealing another kiss. "But seriously, it's fine. This isn't going to change anything. The kids love Xiaojun and we can't split them up because of us, especially considering nothing is going to happen because we have each other."

"Right." Kun agreed with a nod. It was only a crush. It wasn't like he was going to leave his husband, the love of his life, to run off with a twenty-one year old. "Plus, he really does deserve some time off and Xiaojun's coming over next week. We can't ruin that for him either."

Ten smiled. How did he end up with someone as loving as Kun? 

"You're so sweet." He smiled, arms looping around the back of Kun's neck, bringing him in for a proper kiss. His eyes fluttered shut as their lips met, ignoring the way the dials on the oven dug into the small of his back as Kun pressed up against him. 

"I love you Mr. Qian." Ten breathed as they pulled apart, cheeks dusted with pink. 

Kun laughed at the way he said that, as if they were newlyweds, not married for years. It was cute, though. Ten was cute. 

"I love you too, Mr. Qian."

 

☆☆☆

 

"Daddy! What time is it?"

"Almost noon."

"When will Xiaojun get here?" Renjun whined, head propped up on his palm as he waited (im)patiently at the table. 

"Soon, his Dad must just be running late."

Renjun groaned. Dramatically. Kun was always saying that their four year old was just like Ten. Maybe it was true. 

"Well he better hurry up, or I'll start playing Mario without him." 

Ten chuckled to himself as Renjun jumped down from his chair, running off to get his Nintendo Switch ready. Okay, it was definitely true. 

It was a Sunday afternoon, and Ten and Kun had finally gotten around to arranging a play date with Xiaojun, in turn giving Xuxi a rare day off. It was in win-win situation for all of them. Well, maybe not so much for Kun and Ten...they had an extra kid to look after for the day, but at least their own children would be happy. 

"Okay, their playroom is all tidy." Kun huffed as he entered the kitchen. He wasn't sure which of the kids had managed to jam Lego in the plug sockets, but he was just happy they hadn't electrocuted themselves in the process. "Snacks ready?"

"Yeah. I have a raw veggie platter with hummus and rice crackers with a little peanut butter and smoothies for later."

"Hummus?"

Kun's eyebrows raised as a screeching came from behind him, sort of glad one of the kids questioned his husbands choice of snacks because...really? 

"Daddy, do you _want_  Xiaojun to hate us?"

Ten held his hand to his heart in disbelief as Sicheng marched into the kitchen, the six-year-old glaring up at his father. 

"What's wrong with hummus?"

"It's boring! We need to impress him with candy and cookies and nice things! Not celery, Daddy. _No one_ likes celery."

"Impress him?" Ten quirked an eyebrow. What was Sicheng getting at here?

"Yeah! I know you and Papa like Xiaojun's Daddy! I hear you talk about him a lot! If Xiaojun likes us then we can be a family!"

It was obvious he had been with them the longest, adopted at only a couple of months old because he took so many of both of his parent's traits on board. He was sweet and caring just like Kun, but had an edge like Ten did.

Wait. Did he just say _family?_

"A what?" Kun's jaw dropped. A family? Where did Sicheng even get that from? 

"A family." Sicheng repeated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I know you wanna kiss Mr Huang, Daddy."

Ten's breath caught in the back of his throat, dropping the carrot he had been preparing as he began to cough. _What the fuck?_ Where had Sicheng gotten that from? 

"What- What makes you think that, sweetie?" Kun asked, rubbing his husbands back in an attempt to get him to stop spluttering. 

"I heard you and Daddy talking the other day. You both said you liked Mr Huang and that he has nice lips."

"We- Uh-" Kun cleared his throat. How the fuck were they meant to get out of this one? "We didn't mean that we want to... _kiss_  Xiaojun's Daddy, we-" he looked over at his husband to help him out, panic in his eyes. 

"Okay, we did." Ten held his hands up, he couldn't think of a good enough lie on the spot. "But sometimes people just want to kiss their friends. You know, like how I kiss Uncle Doyoung on the cheek whenever I see him."

Sicheng's eyes narrowed. People kissed their _friends?_ He thought that was only for married people. 

"So you and Papa aren't gonna marry Mr Huang?"

"No!" Kun's eyes widened, waving his hands. Jesus Christ. Why was Sicheng always so damn direct? "You can only marry one person anyway, baby. Mr Huang is just our friend."

The two of them held their breath as Sicheng sat back in his chair, eyeing his parents up. God, he could be really intense when he wanted to be. 

"So Xiaojun isn't going to be my new brother?"

"No, sweetie, he's just your friend."

Sicheng sighed. Well, that sucked. He thought he was getting a new Daddy _and_  a new brother, but he wasn't getting either? 

"Okay, fine." He jumped one off of his seat, before turning back to Ten. "But just because you're not gonna marry Xiaojun's Daddy doesn't mean you're allowed to give us boring snacks."

"Sicheng!" Kun called as his son began to wander off. "You...haven't told any of your brothers about this, have you?"

"No, why?"

"Because..." Ten started, trying to think of a decent enough excuse. "They're only young; we don't want them to get confused."

"Of course they're not old enough to understand kissing, Daddy." Sicheng scoffed, arms folding in front of his chest. "They're just babies."

And with that, Sicheng was gone. 

Ten and Kun shared a look, not entire sure what the six-year-old meant by that. Had he been kissing people at school? Jesus Christ, that was the last thing they needed. A girlfriend or a boyfriend to add to the mix. 

"Okay, next time you want to talk about how soft and pouty Xuxi's lips are, maybe save it for the bedroom."

Ten cocked his head, looking at his husband in disbelief. Did he actually just say that? Because one; Ten did _not_ use those words, they were all Kun and two;

"Do you have _any_ idea how weird that sounds?"

 

☆☆☆

 

"Hey! Come on in." Kun opened their front door following the bell ringing. He sort of wished he'd made Ten go, however, because Xuxi looked...well, nothing short of amazing. He was wearing a distressed denim jacket over a t-shirt so tight Kun couldn't even begin to imagine how he squeezed himself into it. 

"Xiaojun!" The boys rushed over to greet their new friend, dragging him inside of the house to play. It had been way too long since they last saw him. 

Xuxi chuckled to himself as the six of them ran upstairs to the playroom. Xiaojun had been waiting for this all week, and he absolutely loved seeing his son make friends. 

"Thanks for having him over, literally all he talks about are your kids."

"Really? That's sweet." Ten smiled as the two of them joined him in the living room. "Do you want a drink?"

"A coffee would be nice, thanks."

"You don't have anything planned for your big day off?"

"Nah," Xuxi chuckled to himself, "I never get much time to myself so I'm not really sure what to do with it."

"Really? I thought you'd be desperate for some alone time. We literally grasp onto every second the kids are at one of our parent's places."

"Yeah, but that's because you two have each other. I'm sure your alone time isn't _that_  lonely."

Kun flushed. He wasn't exactly the type to discuss their sex life with others, and hearing Xuxi say that...well. 

But Ten was, so he laughed softly in response, popping Xuxi's coffee down on the table. 

"Well, that's true. You have to take any opportunity you can when you have five kids running around, barging in and ruining the mood." He sighed. God, that had happened far too many times for his liking. Just when they thought all the kids were fast asleep, and they were trying to be as quiet as physically possible. But no. They'd still storm in, wanting another bedtime story read or whatever. "Have you never thought about that? Dating?"

"Me? God no." Xuxi laughed, maybe a little too loudly. "I don't have the time and no one my age wants to be stuck with someone else's kid."

Honestly, Xuxi would _love_  to be in a relationship. Someone to come home to a night, someone to go on dates with and dote on and kiss and cuddle and buy presents for. Another parental figure for Xiaojun. He wanted all of that _so bad_ , but he just knew it wasn't going to work. 

"Have you even tried, though? I mean look at you, I'm surprised you don't have girls queuing around the block to go out with you."

Xuxi blushed, looking down at his hands. Okay, so, maybe he did get an awful lot of mobile numbers left on the end of bills from customers at work, and maybe some of them had even tried to chat him up, but nothing had ever developed past a first date. It didn't matter how good looking he was, people tended to be put off by the 'father at sixteen' thing. 

"I mean...I could _tr_ y _,_ I guess, but..." He sighed, going over it in his head. "There was...someone, but it didn't really work out, romantically, anyway. He's like my best friend now, though and he absolutely adores Xiaojun. I swear he likes his Uncle Donghyuck more than he likes me sometimes."

Uncle...Donghyuck? Xuxi's ex was a guy?

"So...you like both?"

Xuxi nodded, hoping that wouldn't a problem, before internally scolding himself for being so stupid. Kun and Ten were gay; of course it wouldn't be a problem. 

That was...interesting. But also completely irrelevant because they were _not_ even going to attempt to suggest a threesome because that was just completely ridiculous and oh god now that's all Ten could think about. He needed to change the topic quickly, but without looking too suspicious, oh god, what was he going to-

"Hey." A lightbulb went off in his mind. "What if we set you up with someone?"

Kun threw his husband a quizzical look. Where exactly was Ten going with this? 

"It wouldn't be as scary as meeting someone totally new because we could tell him about Xiaojun in advance and how great you are and he _loves_ kids so that's not a problem and-"

"Who are you talking about?" Kun shuffled closer to the edge of his seat. Please don't say-

"Jungwoo."

Oh god. He said it. 

"Jungwoo?"

"Yeah! He's single and _very_  available. He absolutely loves our kids too, so why not?" Also, if Ten was being completely honest he was sick to death of hearing Jungwoo moan about how there were no decent guys out there and that he was going to die alone. This could be a win-win situation for everyone. 

"Is he cute?" Xuxi cocked his head. That actually didn't sound like a terrible idea. Meeting someone brand new meant he had to drop the whole 'I have a son' bombshell, and that never went well. He'd much prefer Ten doing that before he even met this Jungwoo. 

"The cutest!" Ten rummaged around for his phone, looking for the best pictures of Jungwoo to show off his friend. "See!"

"Wow." Xuxi breathed. Okay, so this guy was pretty cute. "Do you...think he'd be interested in me?"

"Are you kidding?" Ten gaped, looking at Xuxi as if he was crazy. "Do you not look in the mirror of a morning or something? How could he _not_ be into you?"

Kun watched on as Xuxi flushed, fingers nervously playing with the sleeves of his jacket. He wondered if the younger saw what he and Ten did. 

Maybe this was a good idea. Maybe it would take Kun's mind off of Xuxi for once, and Ten's too. Maybe if they could see that he was happy with someone else they wouldn't have these...feelings for him. 

"I can talk to him on Monday, if you want. But I'm pretty sure he's gonna say yes." Ten giggled softly. If he knew Jungwoo as well as he thought he did, then Xuxi was right up his street.

"I can see you two getting on pretty well." Kun smiled, finally joining in the conversation as Xuxi blushed further. He clearly needed someone. Someone to vent to. Someone to cuddle up with. Someone to help out with Xiaojun. It would be nice to see Xuxi happy. 

"Oh my god we could go on double dates and everything!" Ten squeaked, hands clapping together as he let Xuxi scroll through more pictures of Jungwoo on his phone. He hadn't set anyone up in _forever._ He felt like he was at uni again. 

The blonde laughed softly, if not a little nervously. It had been _so_ long since he dated he hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid. 

"Sounds like fun."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The crushing!!!! 
> 
> comments and kudos are always greatly appreciated!! pls let me know what u thought ♡  
> if you wanna shout at me abt anything feel free to add me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/lowkeyamen) or on [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/lowkeyamen/) and i also have a [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/lowkeyamen) if u have any questions and bc, well, i am despo for attention pls love me uwu thank u xo


	3. first dates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been a while i'm so sorry but after seeing the pics of kunten holding hands at the airport aaaaah i couldn't resist!!  
> ALSO, introducing my fave character: uncle hyuck uwu  
> pls enjoy!!

"So?" Ten popped a vanilla latte down on the bench in front of where Jungwoo was working. "How was it?"

"How was what?" The younger threw him a sideways glance. 

"Your date? With Xuxi? How did it go?"

"Can I tell you later?" He was kind of busy here. He was in the middle of applying bleach to Mrs Song's roots and that wasn't the kind of thing you wanted to do with the distraction of your tiny, annoying boss. 

"But I wanna know now!" Ten pouted, moving a set of straighteners out of the way so he could hop up on the bench. Good job they weren't on. 

"You don't have to give me all the details if they aren't...appropriate." He waved in the direction of Jungwoo's client as the middle-aged woman threw him a smirk. "I just want an...opinion. What do you think of him?"

Jungwoo scoffed. Is that really what Ten thought of him? That he put out on the first date? 

Because he was completely right. 

Usually. 

"There _aren't_ any inappropriate details." Jungwoo slapped another blob of bleach onto his client's hair, sexual tension from the night before re-emerging. "He's nice. Too nice, maybe."

"What does that mean?"

Jungwoo shrugged, asking Mrs. Song to go sit under the heat on the other side of the salon for a while so her hair colour would develop quicker. 

"Like...he's kinda boring."

"Seriously?" Ten's jaw dropped. "You think he's _boring?_ " 

"Yeah." Jungwoo deadpanned. "We have literally _nothing_  in common, Ten. I dunno why you set me up with him."

"I thought you'd like him." Ten pouted, hot on Jungwoo's heels as he went to wash his colouring bowl out. It was just as well he didn't have any of his own clients in yet, because they'd probably be kept waiting a while. It was his salon, anyway. He could do what he wanted. "You liked his pictures."

"Yeah. He's hot. I'd sit on his dick." Jungwoo hissed, so none of the customers would be able to hear him. "But I don't wanna marry the guy."

"How can you know that from one date? Don't you wanna have another?"

"Unless it's a hookup in a cheap hotel, no. Not really. We had absolutely no chemistry."

Ten couldn't believe this. Jungwoo had been moping for months after he broke up with his last boyfriend. He had joined every dating app available and was constantly badgering Doyoung to get his boyfriend Jaehyun to set him up with some cute boy. 

Now Ten had found him this perfect guy that was totally single and was pretty sure would never cheat on him like his ex did and Jungwoo didn't even want to try for a second date. 

Really? 

"So that's it? You're gonna just let someone who you could totally settle down and build an amazing life with? Someone who is beyond caring and kind and is such a good father? Someone funny and totally gorgeous that would probably give you the world of you asked for it? And you're not even gonna attempt to see him again because there was no instant spark? Really Jungwoo?"

Jungwoo's eyebrows shot up under his fringe. 

Wow. 

"Sounds like you wanna date him." Jungwoo scoffed, taking a step back to dry off his bowl. 

"Wh-" Ten panicked. Oh Jesus. He could feel his face heating up, words struggling to get out. "I'm married!"

"Doesn't mean you can't have a boyfriend." Jungwoo shrugged. 

What?

"Do you _seriously_ think I'd cheat on Kun?"

"I never said anything about cheating." Jungwoo lifted his hand to his chest. He absolutely hated the idea of Ten and Kun splitting up. They were his favourite couple. He wanted to be just like them when he was...old. "You could always have both."

"Both?" Ten questioned, left hip jutting out as he leaned up against the wall. "Are you serious?"

"It happens." Jungwoo shrugged again. 

"I'm _very_  happy with Kun, Jungwoo. You know that."

"I'm not saying you have to, geez. It was just a passing comment." Jungwoo held his hands up in self-defence. "You seem awfully invested in this guy."

Ten cleared his throat. Okay, so...maybe he had come on a little strong there. He just wanted Xuxi to be happy, though. He had seen the way the younger looked at him and Kun when they were together. There was a sort of longing in his eyes. Like he yearned for what they had. He just really wanted to help him out. 

"Our kids are friends." Ten sighed, making his way across the salon as an email notification beeped from the computer. "And _we're_ friends. Me and Kun care about him."

"He cares about you too."

"Really?" Ten quirked an eyebrow, looking up from his computer screen to Jungwoo. "What makes you say that?"

"You guys were literally all he talked about."

"Wh-" Ten began to flap again. Jungwoo must be exaggerating. Right? There was no way Xuxi would talk about them that much while he was on a date. It must have just been a throw away comment about how they met. Jungwoo was totally blowing this out of proportion. "You can't be serious."

"I am! It was weird." Jungwoo practically whined, turning to look at himself in the mirror.

"I mean, he was out with _this._ " He looked himself up and down, before turning back to Ten. "And all he talked about was you guys. I'm _adorable,_ Ten. Look at me."

Ten opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. What was he even meant to say to that? Jungwoo...seemed like he was being serious. Like...Xuxi really... Did he have a crush on th-

No. That was ridiculous. Why on earth would Xuxi ever have a crush on a married couple who were almost a decade older than him? That was insane. Ten felt weird even thinking about it. 

Maybe he and Jungwoo really didn't have anything in common so Xuxi chose to talk about the only topic they did. Him...and his husband. That seemed perfectly reasonable. Way more reasonable than him crushing on... Haha... No. Not possible. 

"So..." Jungwoo interrupted Ten's inner struggle. His boss had been frozen for a while, the look of sheer shock stuck on his face. "I'm gonna...go. I'm taking an early lunch."

"Hm?" Ten looked back up, eyebrows still half way up his forehead. 

"Jaehyun, uh- Set me up with this cute guy, he's buying me a panini, and you probably have a lot to think about..." Jungwoo made his way to the door, backing away slowly as if he was scared to make any sudden movements. He didn't want to freak Ten out even more. "I'm gonna go take my break..."

"Jungwoo, Wait! What was he saying about us?"

Jungwoo was at the door now, on hand on the glass. He could stay and tell his boss everything, but that would probably just make matters worse and Ten was kind of _really_ scary when he wanted to be. God, he had said too much already, hadn't he.

Or, he could just leg it. 

That seemed like a better idea. 

"See you in an hour!"

"Jungwoo, don't-" Ten's jaw fell open as the door slammed shut, as the redhead practically sprinted down the street. "-go."

Great. Now he was left alone with these...thoughts. What the fuck was he meant to do now? Tell his husband? They had agreed that this was just a crush and that crushes were fine, but- 

If Xuxi did actually feel the same then surely there was no way they could continue being friends, right? Sure, it would break the kid's hearts to lose Xiaojun but he had his marriage to think of. He was sure that they would rather have both of their fathers, in a happy, healthy relationship than have an extra friend. 

But then...he trusted Kun. Completely. And he trusted himself never to cheat on him. Kun was his everything. His rock. The love of his life. He would never throw that away for someone younger or...taller. 

So maybe he shouldn't bother saying anything. Jungwoo could still be exaggerating, after all. He didn't want to cause a whole load of unnecessary drama over what could be nothing. He didn't want to cut Xuxi out for no reason, because he really did seem to enjoy spending time with them. He needed friends who were parents too. And he desperately wanted Xiaojun to have some friends of his own. 

He couldn't rip that away from him. 

But he also couldn't get his hopes up...

God, this was a mess. 

Ten's thumb hovered over Kun's number, brushing up against the little orange heart next to his name. 

He had to tell him. He just had to. He and Kun didn't keep _anything_ from each other. 

He took a deep breath before pressing down, holding the phone to his ear. 

_"Hey, babe. What's up? Are the kids okay?"_

Ten chuckled softly. Of course that was Kun's main concern. 

"They're fine, there's just...something I need to tell you." 

 

☆☆☆

 

"Daddy!" Xiaojun stretched his arms out as his father walked through the door, desperate for a hug. He loved his Uncle Hyuck's apartment, but he hadn't seen his Daddy in almost two days. He missed him. 

"Hey, kiddo." Xuxi scooped Xiaojun up, throwing the giggling five-year-old in the air a couple of times before pressing a sloppy kiss to his cheek. He had missed him too. "Have you been good for Uncle Hyuck?"

"He's been great." Donghyuck peeked around the kitchen door, flour in his hair. "We made cookies if you want one."

Xuxi scoffed. As if he would ever pass up free sweets. 

He popped Xiaojun back down on the floor, letting his son go back to finishing his colouring. He was drawing a picture for Donghyuck's new boyfriend and wanted to leave it here. 

"So, how was your date?" Donghyuck teased, prodding Xuxi in the arm. He wanted to know _everything._

"Uh..." Xuxi tried to think of a word...worthy of last night. "Uneventful."

"What? You didn't even get laid?"

Xuxi nearly choked on his cookie. Okay, just because he and Donghyuck used to date didn't mean he got to jump straight in there with the sex questions. 

"No! I don't put out on the first date." Xuxi scoffed. Who did Donghyuck think he was? 

"Oh, how times have changed."

"That wasn't a _date._ We got drunk at a high school party."

"You poured me a shot and held my hair back when I threw up in that plant pot. It was a date."

Xuxi couldn't help but laugh. He absolutely loved Donghyuck. Maybe not in _that_ way anymore, they just weren't romantically compatible. But he loved him as a friend. A best friend. 

"Okay, so you didn't get laid. Why? Are you saving yourself. Do you want it to be special?" Donghyuck sung the last word, accompanied with jazz hands. That was kind of cute. He guessed. 

"No, we just... We had no spark whatsoever. Like, we had absolutely nothing to talk about."

"Really?" Donghyuck found that hard to believe. Xuxi never shut up. "Was he one of those pretty guys with absolutely no personality?"

Xuxi shrugged. He didn't even know. If he was being perfectly honest, he hadn't even tried that hard with Jungwoo. He was sure there would have been more chemistry if he had actually made an attempt to get to know him better but...his heart just wasn't in it, and he couldn't put his finger on why. 

"I'm sure he's pretty nice. I mean, he must be if he's friends with Ten, I just... I just didn't really want to put any effort in, you know? Is that weird?"

Donghyuck took a long drink of his coffee, eyes locked on Xuxi's, making the elder a little nervous. 

"Yes. That's fucking weird."

Xuxi rolled his eyes. Great. He honestly didn't know why he told Donghyuck things sometimes. 

"If you didn't want to see him again, I can't understand why you didn't just bang him. When was the last time you got laid, Xuxi? I'm serious. I'm worried for your testicular health."

"Hyuck!" Xuxi hissed, his five-year-old son was only in the next room, and they'd left the door open so they could keep an eye on him. "I couldn't just do that. He's Ten's friend. It's weird."

"Ten, huh?" Donghyuck raised an eyebrow, a sly smirk on his lips. 

"Uh...Yeah. They work together or something."

"You talk about him a lot."

"Do I?" Xuxi averted his eyes, playing with a pile of cookie crumbs on his plate. "Well, he is the one that set me up, so..."

"Not just today. Like, always. The other one too, his husband. I feel like I know more about them than I do my own boyfriend."

Xuxi scoffed. "That's probably because you've known Jeno all of three weeks."

"Four. Actually. An entire month." Donghyuck corrected. "But that's completely besides the point. You talk about them both all the time."

"I mean," Xuxi shrugged, "I see them a lot. Besides you I don't exactly have many friends. And you talk about yourself enough for the both of us, so it's either them or work."

Donghyuck's eyebrow rose further, if that was even possible. He wasn't entirely convinced. 

"Then why do you blush every time you mention their names?"

Xuxi's jaw dropped. He didn't _blush._ Did he? Oh god, did he? If he blushed just talking about them, then...imagine what a mess he must look when talking _to_ them. Fuck. 

"I don't!"

"You do! Oh my god! You're like totally in love with them!"

"Don't be fucking stupid, Hyuck." Xuxi hissed the curse word, hoping Xiaojun wouldn't hear. That was the last thing he needed. "I'm not _in love_ with them. I've only known them a few months. I'm not you."

"But you like them?" Donghyuck propped his elbow on the table, giving his chin a place to rest as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at his best friend. 

Xuxi gaped. He had just totally dropped himself in it, hadn't he? 

"Okay, fine!" There was no way Donghyuck was going to let him leave without telling the truth, so he might as well get it over and done with because he wanted to go home, curl up with Xiaojun and fall asleep watching some kids movie. "Yes. I like them. I like Ten and Kun, okay. They're nice to me and they help me out a lot and Xiaojun loves them and they're both really fucking cute and my stomach flips whenever I see them kiss because I kinda wish I was in either one of their places. Okay? But that means absolutely nothing, because they're married. To each other. There. I said it. Are you happy now?"

Donghyuck mouthed a 'wow', opting to take another deep drink in lieu of actually responding. He had only been teasing Xuxi about being in love with the couple, but... Damn. 

"Are you gonna tell them?"

"Are you _insane?_ " Xuxi reached across to tap on Donghyuck's head, making sure it wasn't completely hollow. "Have you actually lost your mind? What _sane_ person would tell a very happily _married_ couple that he had a crush on them? Both."

"Well," Donghyuck tilted his head, thinking for a second, "I guess it's better than just having a crush on one of them. It's not like you want them to break up or anything..."

Xuxi honestly didn't know where Donghyuck got these ideas from. He was pretty sure his friend just strung a couple of words together for the sake of speaking sometimes. 

"I'm not sure this is any better."

Donghyuck sighed. Xuxi was right; this did seem kind of hopeless. He would love to think up a way to help the elder out, but...it would take some time. He didn't have an instant answer for once. 

"Do you think you'll get over it?"

"I think I'm going to have to." Xuxi helped himself to another cookie. He needed it after this chat. "I can't rip Xiaojun away from his new friends. You know how much he's been struggling at school."

Donghyuck smiled sadly. He did know. He was a teaching assistant at Xiaojun's school, so he had seen first-hand how lonely the five-year-old was. It broke his heart seeing his favourite boy sat alone at lunchtime. 

"You never know. Maybe they feel the same."

Xuxi looked away, eyes focusing on his son sat on the living room floor, surrounded by crayons. He was so fucking precious. 

"I very highly doubt it."

 

☆☆☆

 

"Come on, Daddy! Why are we going slow?" Xiaojun whined from the back seat of the car. He thought cars were meant to be fast. 

"I'm trying, there's traffic." Xuxi sighed. Xiaojun wasn't usually so impatient; he wondered what had gotten into him. 

They were on their way to Kun and Ten's for another play date. This had become a weekly occurrence, seeing how well the six kids were getting on, and Xiaojun seemed to live for it. Xuxi was just happy that he was finally making friends. 

Fifteen of the longest minutes of Xiaojun's life passed before they finally pulled into the Qian's driveway.  

"We're here!" The five-year-old bounced in his booster seat, waiting for his father to come and unbuckle him. 

Xuxi couldn't help but laugh, he wasn't sure he'd seen Xiaojun this excited since last Christmas. He knew he loved playing with the other boys, but...wow. He wasn't usually this hyper. He wondered if he was still on a sugar high from staying at Donghyuck's last night. 

He ran straight into the house as soon as the door opened, almost knocking Ten over. 

"Xiaojun!" Xuxi shouted after his son, who made a beeline for his new friends. Chenle and Yangyang were down for a nap, but the remaining four of them seemed to talk for all of a couple of seconds before bolting upstairs. 

"What's going on?" Kunhang asked as Xiaojun shut the door to the playroom behind them. He hadn't actually heard what the other boy had said earlier, just ran after his brothers in the excitement of it all. 

"Yeah, what's so important we had to run up here?"

"I think we can be brothers!"

"What?"

"Yeah, how come?"

"I heard my Daddy talking to my Uncle Hyuck the other day and he said he liked your Daddy and Papa!"

"Well I would hope so." Renjun deadpanned with a roll of his eyes. 

"Wait, do you mean...he _like_  likes them?" Sicheng's eyes widened. 

"Yes! He said they're cute and he wants to kiss them!"

The three Qian boys gasped. Did Mr Huang really like their parents in that way? Did that mean...?

"But you can only marry one person." Sicheng furrowed his eyebrows, remembering a conversation he and Ten had a few weeks back. "My Daddy said he wanted to kiss your Daddy too but...then he said you can only marry one person. How can we be brothers if they aren't married?"

"Why can you only marry one person? That stupid!" Kunhang sat himself down on the carpet, trying to wrap his head around such a ridiculous idea. "What if Papa and Daddy love Mr Huang!"

"I dunno." Sicheng followed his brother, settling himself down to think. He was the oldest. He had to be able to come up with a plan. 

"Have they told each other?"

Xiaojun shook his head. "My Daddy said he couldn't tell them because they're married but..." he wracked his brain, trying to recall the conversation. "Uncle Hyuck said they might feel the same and they do, so he should tell them, right?"

"Then why don't they just tell each other?" Renjun sighed. It seemed pretty simple to him. Why did grown-ups make everything so complicated?

"Maybe they're scared." Sicheng hummed. "Maybe we should...help."

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno yet, we'll have to come up with a plan."

"A plan?" Kunhang beamed. That sounded fun. Especially if it was going to make their parents happy, and if they liked Mr Huang, then surely that would make them super happy. Right? "What kind of plan?"

Sicheng tapped his chin, looking around the room for inspiration as the other five boys stared back at him, waiting for inspiration to strike. 

His eyes landed on a drawing Chenle had done earlier this morning. Maybe they could...

"They'd be mad if any of us said anything, right?"

"Yeah. We aren't meant to snoop when adults are talking."

"And we know that because we're older...but Chenle..."

"He's just a baby!" Kunhang gasped. 

"Right. If we tell him what Daddy said, he's probably gonna tell Mr Huang or something."

"We should tell Yangyang too! Just to make sure..." 

"And then if my Daddy knows your Papa's like him then..." Xiaojun felt a little bad using the younger boys like this, but it sounded like it could work. "Maybe they'll fall in love and we can be brothers!"

"Yeah!" Sicheng clapped his hands together. This actually seemed like a pretty solid plan. He reckoned, anyway. He was only seven; after all, it was about the best he could come up with. "This is so exciting!"

"Yangyang and Lele should be up from their nap soon."

"We should go tell them!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (the kids!!! scheming!!!)
> 
> comments and kudos are always greatly appreciated!! pls let me know what u thought ♡  
> if you wanna shout at me abt anything feel free to add me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/lowkeyamen) or on [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/lowkeyamen/) and i also have a [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/lowkeyamen) if u have any questions and bc, well, i am despo for attention pls love me uwu thank u xo


	4. cry baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh another chapter! Time to see how the boys plan went!!!
> 
> (Trigger warning for the very end of this chapter: there's a brief mention of sexual harassment/assault in the last paragraph - this won't be a running theme in this fic so don't worry!)

"Oh my god, what's wrong?" Ten and Kun rushed up the stairs, Xuxi not far behind as they heard screaming coming from the younger boys room. 

"Papa!" Chenle screamed, arms stretched out, fingers grabbing for his father. 

"What's the matter, baby?" Kun looked around the room; all of the boys were in here. Yangyang was sniffling softly in Ten's arms while the four older boys were staring sheepishly at the ground. "What happened?"

No response. 

"Kunhang?" Targeting the five-year-old usually seemed to work. Kunhang tended to cave quicker than his brothers. 

"N-Nothing!"

"We just came to tell Lele and Yangyang something!" Sicheng piped up, hoping Kunhang wouldn't ruin the plan. 

"Did you wake them up?" Ten asked, bouncing Yangyang in his arms softly. He was a little less hysterical than Chenle was. 

"No, they were already awake! I promise!"

"Then why are you crying, baby?"

"Si-Sichenggie said-"

"Sichenggie said something bad!" Chenle wailed, finishing his brother's sentence, tears still streaming down his face. 

"I didn't! It's not bad, Lele, it's good!"

"What did you say to them, Chenggie?" Kun's eyebrows furrowed. What had Sicheng said to get the babies so riled up? It must have been pretty awful...

"Nothing!"

"Sicheng." Ten warned. They had tried to teach the kids that lying was bad, but that wasn't always as easy as it seemed. 

Chenle sniffled. Sicheng wasn't going to tell them was he? Maybe he would have to...

"He said-"

"It's okay, sweetie. You won't get wrong for repeating it." Kun settled down on Chenle's bed, the three-year-old still snuggled against his chest. 

Chenle glanced between both of his parents before looking up at Xuxi. He welled back up just thinking about what Sicheng had told him and Yangyang. He didn't want his Daddy and Papa to break up. 

"He said Daddy wants to kiss Mr Sushi!"

All three of the adults froze. Did- Did Chenle really say that?

"Sicheng!" Ten hissed, face beet red. He wasn't sure how he could talk his way out of this one. Xuxi was standing _right there_ for God's sake. "We talked about this."

"Yeah but-"

"I thought you weren't going to tell your brothers." Ten tried to keep his voice as low as possible, knowing it was completely pointless. Xuxi was an adult. He could clearly hear them. 

"But Daddy, why's it so bad?"

"Yeah! My Daddy said he wants to kiss you two too!" Xiaojun piped up out of nowhere, waddling over to his father, who was stood frozen solid. Oh dear god. "Right Daddy? That's what you said to uncle Hyuck! You said you like like them a lot!"

"Uh-" Xuxi had no idea how to respond to that. Was this really happening? Had Xiaojun actually overheard them talking?  And had Ten really said that about him...?

The three adults in the room all seemed to stop breathing at once. This was... Well, this was the last thing they ever expected to happen. 

Ten and Kun both knew exactly how they felt about the younger, and they had an inkling that Xuxi felt the same, but... They were in love. They were married. Neither of them were going to go behind their husbands back for some meaningless affair, and no matter how blasé Jungwoo was about it, they couldn't just have another boyfriend. That was weird. Right? 

And Xuxi was...confused. He liked Ten and Kun a lot, more than he knew he should considering they were married, but... Did they actually like him back? How could they? They were meant to be together. He thought that they were the perfect couple, everything he had ever dreamed of, but...Ten wanted to kiss him? He wanted to cheat on Kun? That made his stomach lurch a little. And not in a good way. 

"You and Daddy both like Mr Huang and Mr Huang likes you too!" Renjun slipped over to Kun, hands resting on his father's knees. "Now you can kiss and we can be brothers with Xiaojun!"

"Yeah, let's be brothers!" Kunhang wrapped his arms around Xiaojun's smaller frame, pulling him in close.

"B-Brothers?" Chenle cocked his head, trying to make sense of all of this. 

"Yeah! See, I told you it was a good thing, Lele! Now Xiaojun can be your big brother too!" Sicheng beamed. His plan hadn't gone  _quite_ as smoothly as he had first hoped, but it seemed to be working. Although...his parents and Mr Huang were being awfully quiet. 

Chenle burst into an excited giggle, scrambling to climb down off of his father's lap so he could run over to cuddle Xiaojun too. A new brother? This was so exciting! Yangyang was hot on his heels, the two of them clearly getting over their tears from earlier. 

Ten and Kun watched on in what could only be described as horror as the boys laughed together. They knew they had to stop this, but neither of them really knew what to say. 

"Daddy, go on!" Xiaojun wrapped his arms around Xuxi's leg. His father was stood on the outskirts of Chenle and Yangyang's room, as far away from the situation as possible. "Kiss them so we can be a family!"

"Xiaojun, th-" 

Xuxi faltered. He wanted to tell his son that that wasn't quite how things worked. That they couldn't just kiss and magically become a family like in some fairy-tale. That things were way, way more complicated than that. That even if they did all like each other, there were so many other factors to take into account. Ten and Kun's marriage, the kids, how the fuck something this crazy would even work. This had been sprung on the three of them; they hadn't been given the chance to talk. They couldn't just kiss and expect everything to work out perfectly. They couldn't dive into something this massive on a whim, just to keep the kids happy. 

It was a lot more complicated than that and he had no idea to explain all of that to a five year old.

"We need to go, come on."

Xuxi bent down to scoop Xiaojun up, the boy protesting with a shriek. What was happening? Why was his Daddy leaving? Why was he being taken away from his new family? This wasn't part of the plan. 

"Daddy, no!" Xiaojun struggled in his father's hold. He didn't want to go home, and he definitely didn't want his Daddy to leave. He wanted him to stay here and fall in love with Ten and Kun. "I wanna stay!"

"We can't, baby, we, uh- We need to go see Uncle Hyuck." Xuxi blurted out in a panic. He wasn't even sure if Donghyuck would be home, but he felt like he needed someone to talk to, and hoped that would soften the blow a little with Xiaojun. "I, uh-" he turned to Kun and Ten before leaving. The couple looked just as flustered as he was. "I'm really sorry about all of this."

Xuxi turned to leave before either one of them could respond, scared to hear what they might say. 

 

 

☆☆☆

 

"I finally got him to sleep." Donghyuck raked his fingers through sandy hair as he plopped himself down on the soft next to Xuxi. "You want a beer?"

"Oh god, yes please."

"You know where they are." Donghyuck wasn't getting back up, he had just spent over an hour rocking a teary Xiaojun to sleep, the five year old refusing to see his father. 

"So," he started as Xuxi sat back down next to him, passing him a drink of his own, "what the fuck happened?"

Xuxi groaned. He and Donghyuck had barely even gotten the chance to talk since he turned up. Xiaojun was borderline hysterical and would only talk to his uncle, not wanting anything to do with his father. 

"Xiaojun must have overheard us talking the other day. About Ten and Kun. He told the rest of the kids."

"Shit, really?" Donghyuck's eyes widened. He had barely been able to get any sense out of the boy. Despite saying he had only wanted to talk to Donghyuck, he hadn't done that much talking. "Did they freak out?"

"Not really." Xuxi played with the label on his bottle, the condensation had caused the glue to loosen, the corner beginning to peel away. "Turns out they heard their Dad's speaking about the same thing."

Donghyuck almost choked on his beer. 

"Seriously? They- Like, they like you too?"

"Apparently they wanna kiss me or something. Didn't exactly get into the finer details. I just grabbed Xiaojun and ran."

"Wow." Donghyuck took a long drink, not really sure what to say. "So, what's the problem, then?"

"Are you for real?" Xuxi turned to look at his best friend as if he was crazy. "They're _married_ , Hyuck."

"So? It's not like one of them would be cheating with you, they both seem to like you, right?" Donghyuck asked, confirming he hadn't gotten the wrong end of the stick. 

"I-I think so. I dunno, like I said I just ran out. It was...awkward. Like, how are you even meant to discuss something like that with six kids in the room? They kept talking about us all being a family. It was really...intense."

"Ah." Donghyuck nodded. Xiaojun had mentioned something about his Dadsy taking him away from his brothers. He knew how much the boy hated being an only child. "But...you are gonna talk to them about it sometime, right?"

Xuxi shrugged. He honestly had no idea what he was going to do. 

"How do you even have a conversation like that? I might just avoid them. Forever."

"And rip Xiaojun's new friends away from him? Really?"

Xuxi sighed. He knew it was harsh, but...Xiaojun would get over it eventually. He was only young. Surely lying to him that they could be family and things ultimately not working out - because how could they possibly - would be much more harmful in the long run. 

"You know how much he's been struggling at school, and he's finally starting to come out of his shell. You don't want to ruin that, do you?"

"Of course I don't." He really didn't. "I just feel like nipping the whole thing in the bud now would be better than dragging things out."

Donghyuck chewed on the inside of his lip. He could see where Xuxi was coming from. This was a _really_ big deal. It wasn't the same as Xuxi bringing someone brand new into Xiaojun's life; he was already so attached to Ten, Kun and their kids. This was going to have a huge impact on Xiaojun either way. 

"You really need to talk to them before you make a decision. Alone. Without the kids."

Xuxi whined. He knew that but...it was just going to be _so_ awkward. How fucking embarrassing. Your kid telling everyone you liked a married couple. And he knew Sicheng said Ten and Kun wanted to kiss him, but...surely it was nothing more than that. Married people weren't meant to have feelings for anyone else. Why would they want to when they had each other? 

"I'm sure you can work something out either way. I doubt the kids want to be separated."

"No, you're right. I'll have to talk to them at some point." Xuxi took a swig if his drink. "I'm just scared them even being friends might be getting their hopes up. They're all so young."

"You'll figure something out, sweetie." Donghyuck laced his fingers with Xuxi's, thumb rubbing soothing circles into the back of his hand. 

Donghyuck had been there through it all. Xiaojun's questions about why he didn't have a mother like everyone else at school. About why his Daddy dated boys instead of girls. And Xuxi had handled those questions like a pro, by never once lying to Xiaojun. He didn't always go into detail, but he told the truth. Most people may not agree with that technique, but it saved on the emotional scars of being lied to when the boy grew up and found out the truth. 

"You always do."

 

 

☆☆☆

 

Ten threw himself down on his and Kun's bed, heels of his hands pushing into his eyes. What a fucking day. 

After Xuxi left, the boys lost it. They were so hurt, so confused. They couldn't understand why everything didn't just fall into place like in some Disney movie. They had tried to explain that things were much more complicated than that, that real life relationships had to consider more than just liking one another, but the boys weren't having it. They just didn't understand. 

This led to temper tantrums and more crying. To Renjun refusing to eat his dinner and Sicheng locking himself up in his room all evening. It was a mess, to say the least. 

"I finally got Kunhang down." Kun sighed, shutting his and Ten's bedroom door behind him. To say the five year old was distraught when Xuxi and Xiaojun left was an understatement. He had eventually cried himself to sleep. Kun just hoped he or any of his brothers wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night. 

"This is kind of a mess, huh?" Ten asked his husband as Kun stripped down to his boxers before throwing an old shirt on and getting into bed. 

"Just a bit." Kun scoffed. That was putting it lightly. "What are we gonna do?"

"I honestly have no idea." Ten groaned. The two of them hadn't even gotten the chance to discuss the day's events, too busy trying to console the kids. "Did you ever think that...he _liked_ us, or whatever?"

"Not in a million years." Kun shook his head. After Xuxi left Sicheng had told them everything the boys had discussed with Xiaojun. That apparently he had heard his Daddy talking to his Uncle Hyuck about how much he liked the couple. If Sicheng was telling the truth then this seemed to run deeper than just kisses, on Xuxi's end at least. "Not like that, anyway."

"How do you feel about it?"

"I dunno." Kun shrugged. That was the honest truth. "I don't know how I'm meant to feel in this situation."

"Yeah." Ten sighed in agreement. It was confusing to say the least. "We really need to talk to him, though, for the kids' sake." 

"They'd be devastated if they never got to see Xuxi or Xiaojun again."

"But surely that's better than getting their hopes up, right? Can we really keep seeing them if they think we're gonna be one big happy family?"

Kun hummed. That was a fair point. He wasn't entirely sure which was the better option. 

"You're right, were gonna have to talk to Xuxi before we promise the kids anything. Or rip their new friend away from them." Kun dragged his hands down his face. He was absolutely shattered. Saturdays were meant to be relaxing; he didn't have to deal with work or pissy clients. But he still had a worse headache than anytime during the week. 

"We should probably talk too, right? Before we talk to Xuxi. So we're on the same page."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, like..." Ten wasn't quite sure how to approach such a subject with his husband of nine years. "We should discuss all of our options before making a decision."

"What options are there?" Kun furrowed his eyebrows. He wasn't quite sure where Ten was going with this. 

"You're not gonna hate me for what I say next, are you? Because you know you're my everything and I love you so much and-"

"Just say it, Ten." Kun's voice wasn't harsh or accusatory; he wanted Ten to open up to him, because that's how their relationship had lasted so long. They were always upfront with one another. No matter what. 

"I had never even considered it before, because it's crazy, right? But... _If_  something like this _could_ work out...would you want to?"

"I-" Kun started, not entirely sure how to respond. Did Ten really feel that strongly about Xuxi? He knew the two of them shared a crush on the younger boy, but...Kun had tried to push it to the back of his mind, because that's all it was, right? A crush. He was married for God's sake. "I have no idea. I've never thought about it. We're _married_."

"I know that!" Ten turned to his husband, not wanting Kun to get the wrong end of the stick. "And the last thing I would ever want was for us to break up or anything, but...I just feel like we need to talk about that. As a possibility."

"I dunno, this is all so sudden...I've never- How would something like that even work?"

"I have no idea." 

Ten had heard of polyamorous relationships, but he'd never met anyone that was involved in one. He mainly knew about them from documentaries on television, about Mormons and the like. Men with numerous wives and a whole gaggle of children. It all seemed a little misogynistic to him. 

But he knew there was more to polyamory than that. That love between three people could actually exist. He just...he didn't know a whole lot about it. 

"You like him, don't you?"

"Hm?" Ten snapped out of his train of thought. He hadn't actually realised how long he'd been silent. "Yeah. You know I do."

"No, but. You _really_  like him. Don't you?"

The tips of Ten's ears burned red. Did he? Did he really like Xuxi that much? Is that what Kun was taking from this? That Ten wanted to jump into this crazy polyamorous relationship? He was merely suggesting that they should discuss it, but...

Maybe he did like Xuxi a little more than he was meant to. 

"I- I dunno about _really,_ but...yeah, I guess I do like him. Is that- You're not mad, are you? Cause you know I'd never ever cheat and-"

"Baby, I know that." Kun cut him off before he was even able to finish his sentence. He _knew_ that. He trusted Ten completely. He knew the younger would never cheat on him. "Just like you said, we need to get everything out in the open before we talk to him."

Ten pouted, nuzzling into Kun's shoulder, arms wrapping around his husbands. 

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You can't help how you feel."

"You're the best." Ten smiled, snuggling in closer to his husband. "My favourite person in the world." 

Kun chuckled softly. "Well that's good; at least I know you're not going to totally trade me in for a younger model."

"I would never! I like a man with experience." Ten grinned, cheek pressing into Kun's shoulder so he could look up at the elder. "You can find my prostate in like four seconds."

"I'm glad I have my uses." Kun scoffed pressing a kiss to the tip of Ten's nose. "But seriously, do you think that's what he wants? All three of us in this together? It doesn't sound like he just has feelings for one of us..."

"I have no idea; we'd have to ask him that."

"Maybe it's not real, you know, maybe it's just cause he's on his own and he sees us together and wants what we have so-"

"So he thinks he wants to be a part of it?" Ten asked. That made sense actually. He knew how lonely Xuxi was. How badly he wanted to give Xiaojun a proper family. "That's so sad."

"Yeah..." Kun hummed in agreement. Xuxi has been in his own for so long, he couldn't think of anything worse. "But...if that really was what he wanted - and I mean _really_ , because I wouldn't want to get the kids hopes up for no reason, I guess... I mean, I wouldn't be completely opposed to the idea."

"Really?" Ten sat up slightly, eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Y-You could do that?"

"I think so..." Kun honestly wasn't sure. He had never even thought about sharing Ten before, about sharing himself, but...for some reason the idea didn't scare him as much as he figured it should. "I'm more worried about the kids than us. Is that weird?"

Ten shook his head, lips curving into a subtle smile. 

"Not really, you always put them first." He took Kun's hand in his own, thumb ghosting over his golden wedding band. "And I'm pretty sure we could survive anything. Remember what happened with your old boss?"

Kun swallowed thickly. How could he forget? She was much older than him, came onto him after asking him to stay back late one night and shoved her tongue down his throat and her hands down his pants without his consent. It was traumatising, and to make matters worse, when Kun reported it to the higher ups at work, she turned it around on him, said he was the one that sexually assaulted _her._

That led to an arduous court case, one in which Kun had to relive the trauma over and over in front of god knows how many people. 

But Ten was there for him throughout the whole thing; holding his hand, reassuring him it would all be okay in the end because the truth always came out. He never doubted Kun once. Never thought 'what if she _is_ telling the truth?' Because he knew his husband, and he trusted him. Completely. 

The two of them were rock solid, and if that didn't come between them, there was no way this was going to. 

"We're strong, Kunnie." Ten leaned in to kiss his husband, a reassurance that no matter what happened the next time they saw Xuxi, that everything was going to be okay. "We can get through anything as long as we're in it together."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos are always greatly appreciated!! pls let me know what u thought ♡  
> if you wanna shout at me abt anything feel free to add me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/lowkeyamen) or on [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/lowkeyamen/) and i also have a [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/lowkeyamen) if u have any questions and bc, well, i am despo for attention pls love me uwu thank u xo


	5. epiphany

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I missed this fic so much so here's another chapter :'))) Get ready for some fluff!!

Xuxi fiddled with the hem of the sleeve of his jacket. This was nerve wracking. He didn't like big talks like this. The last time he had been asked to go somewhere quiet to talk he'd found out that he was going to be a father at just sixteen years old. Granted, it wasn't in some fancy bistro, but behind the science block instead, but... It still freaked him out. 

But somehow this felt ten times worse. At least he had gotten something good out of that conversation: Xiaojun. He wasn't sure anything good could come of this. 

He still couldn't believe Xiaojun had overheard him and Donghyuck speaking. He should have been more careful, the boy was just in the other room for God's sake. Now he was absolutely distraught at the fact he couldn't see his new friends anymore and- it was a mess. He had always been terrified of his own son hating him for whatever reason, and now he did. 

"Hi." Xuxi was pulled from his thoughts as a couple of chairs were pulled out opposite him, face instantly burning as his eyes landed on Kun and Ten. It had been almost a week since he saw them last, unable to get the time off work for all three of them to meet up any earlier. 

"H-Hey."

"How have you been?" Kun smiled, caring as ever. 

"Oh, you know. Fine." Xuxi shrugged. A lie. He had barely slept. "You guys?"

"Okay considering we have five moody kids in the house that will barely talk to us." Ten laughed bitterly. It had been a long week. "Wine?"

"Oh god yes." Kun waved a waiter over. He was absolutely desperate for a drink. The kids still didn't understand what was going on, didn't understand why their parents and Xuxi couldn't just instantly fall in love and live happily ever after, and Kun and Ten honestly didn't know what to tell them. They didn't want to let them know they were meeting up with Xuxi in case it got their hopes up, so they did their best to distract the boys with other things; new toys, movies they liked, ice cream after school. But nothing seemed to work. They were miserable. 

"Yeah, Xiaojun hasn't exactly been my friend lately either." Xuxi sighed, figuring he might as well get in on the wine himself. It was only 2pm, but he had a feeling he was going to need it. "He's so mad at me for taking him away, but every time I try to explain why he just doesn't understand."

"You were overwhelmed, right?"

Xuxi nodded. 

"Understandable. We all were."

"Yeah." Kun sighed, taking a sip of his Malbec. "I thought maybe the boys had just been playing too loudly and it woke the babies up, but...I definitely didn't expect them to say that."

"We probably shouldn't have trusted Sicheng to keep his mouth shut." Ten snorted. He was only six, after all. 

"So you knew that he knew...?"

"Yeah, he overheard us talking about..."

"How we have a crush on you. And that you have really kissable lips."

"Ten." Kun hissed Unser his breath. Jesus Christ. Why did he always have to be so blunt? 

"What? It's not like it's a secret anymore. The kids blurted it out last weekend."

"Y-You have a crush on me? Both of you?" Xuxi knew that Chenle said Kun and Ten wanted to kiss him but, he had wondered whether it was just that. But a crush? That was bigger...right? Maybe it was just physical. Maybe they just thought he was hot. 

But...what if it was more? He wasn't prepared for that. He thought they'd either just brush the whole thing off and go on as if nothing had happened. Tell the kids that they were still gonna be friends and have their little play dates. Or, Ten and Kun would be way too freaked out by the entire thing and wouldn't want to even risk anything damaging their marriage. They'd tell Xuxi that the kids couldn't hang out anymore, and even though he knew it would break Xiaojun's heart, he'd understand. 

But now he wasn't so sure. 

"W-Well, yeah. I mean, look at you."

Oh. So it was just physical. That made sense. Xuxi knew he was pretty hot. 

"And you're just really sweet and funny and we admire the way you've managed to bring Xiaojun up all on your own while juggling a business and-" Xuxi blushed. Was...was this more than that? "Yeah. We kind of... _do_ like you."

"Sorry if that's weird."

Xuxi blinked. Not really sure how to respond. Kun and Ten liked him? _Liked_ him? But they were married. To one another. That didn't make any sense. 

"I don't understand."

Kun's fingers laced with Ten's under the table. He wasn't so sure they had gone about this the right way. Maybe they should have let Xuxi speak first. 

"Ten and I tell each other everything. No matter how small, and...well, we've never had a problem with the other having a crush because we're only human. And as long as we're open and honest with each other then we don't see the problem, right babe?"

Ten nodded. He felt a little bad for coming on so strong, Xuxi seemed absolutely terrified. "It just so happens that we both felt the same, and we wanted to be honest with you too. We wanted to get everything out before we made any...decisions."

Xuxi sat back in his chair, downing half his glass of wine in one go. When he had spoken to Donghyuck about this he had never even thought of this happening. Hadn't allowed himself to even dream about it. Because there was no way they would actually like him back, right? They were so happy together. Why would they risk that all for him? For something he couldn't even begin to comprehend? 

This was all very confusing. 

"What kind of decisions?"

"Well, that totally depends on how you feel, I guess." Kun sighed, he felt bad putting this all on Xuxi, but he and Ten would be happy no matter what the outcome. They had one another. And while they would be absolutely devastated if Xuxi didn't want to see them or the kids anymore, they'd understand. "You don't have to decide now, no pressure, but we're happy with whatever you want. Right?"

"Yeah." Ten smiled weakly, squeezing his husband's hand. This was so surreal. Were they seriously at lunch with the possibility of getting a boyfriend? He knew his cheeks were dusted pink by the way Xuxi was looking at him, the tips of the younger's ears burning red, but he didn't even care. "We just want to be happy, all of us. And the kids. I know they want us all to be some big family but...if you don't want that and just want to stay friends that's totally fine. We'll sit them down and explain things. Or if you just want to call it quits completely then we get that too. The boys will get over it eventually. But we don't want to pressure you into anything, Xuxi. We'll go along with whatever you think is best."

Xuxi couldn't believe what he was hearing. The staying friends and calling things off he could understand. But were Ten and Kun seriously implying that they could be together? All three of them? Xuxi head was spinning and he was sure it wasn't from the tiny glass of wine he'd just had. In fact, he felt like he needed another. 

"Are you saying that...you want me to, like, join your relationship?"

"We're saying it's an option. We...aren't quite sure how something like that would work, but if you wanted to as well, then we'd like to try."

"We know it's not conventional, Xuxi, but we're two married guys with five kids. _We_  aren't exactly conventional." Ten giggled softly, his shoulder bumping against Kun's. Just a few years ago they couldn't even get married, and not long before that homosexuality was completely illegal. Who was to say that something like this was wrong too? Who decided relationships were only for two people, anyway? 

Xuxi stared at the couple in awe. He had admired Kun and Ten's relationship for as long as he'd known them. He loved the way they bounced off of one another, the way they couldn't help but hold hands or steal quick pecks on the cheek when we the opportunity arose. How in love they still were, even after all of these years. The way Kun's eyes lingered on Ten when the younger wasn't paying attention. The way Ten's nose scrunched up whenever he did that one special smile he only ever seemed to reserve for Kun. 

In Xuxi's eyes they had the perfect relationship, the perfect marriage. And that was exactly what he wanted. 

He just hadn't expected it to be _their_ relationship. 

How would that even work? How could he just slide in after how long they'd been together? How could he possibly compare to the years of love and laughter that had come before him? How would they explain things to people? Wouldn't he always feel like a third wheel? They were married for Christ's sake. What would he be? Just the bit on the side? That felt weird. He didn't want that. He wanted to be with them, but...that was impossible, right? Sure, Kun and Ten were the ones suggesting it, but... it could never _actually_ happen. It was just some fantasy. Right? 

"D-Do you really feel that strongly about me?" Xuxi found it hard to believe that they'd want to risk their entire seven year marriage over _him._

"We do." Kun smiled, without any hesitation. It was something he and Ten had discussed night after night, trying to come to terms with their true feelings. It had been tough, not to mention a little awkward, but in the end they realised that yes, actually, they did like Xuxi. _A lot._ More than just some guy they wanted to make out with. More than a one night stand. More than just a friend. They liked him. Really liked him. "We've only just started to understand it ourselves, but...we do. And we know this is a huge, really scary step, but we would love to have you join us. If that's what you want. Of course."

"Wow." Xuxi couldn't help but breathe out. This was crazy. His stomach was going wild. "I guess- I guess you guys know I like you that way too after what Junnie said, but... I dunno. This is...big."

"We know, it took a lot of discussion on our part. We don't expect you to decide straight away, but we thought we should talk alone before we get the kids back together."

"Take as long as you need to wrap your head around things and figure out what you really want." Ten reached across the table, thumb rubbing soothing circles in the back of Xuxi's hand, a gesture the younger greatly appreciated and had to use all his strength not to grab Ten's hand and never let him go. 

Because that was his gut instinct. Saying yes, of course I would fucking _love_ to join your relationship. Love to be with you guys. Love to be one big happy family. The boys would be happy. They would be happy. He finally wouldn't be alone anymore. Xiaojun could have not one, but two extra father figures in his life and five brothers. It would be perfect. 

But his head was telling him not to be so stupid. Not to jump into something like this because it couldn't possibly work. If anything bad were to happen obviously Kun and Ten would stick together and he'd be back at square one. Or even worse, because he would have had a taste of that suburban white picket fence loving family life and then have it all ripped away from him. That maybe it was best to just walk away now because the chances of him ever getting over these crushes were slim to none if he kept seeing the couple every week. He knew it would kill Xiaojun, but he would get over it in time. It would hurt a lot less ripping the band aid off now than a few years down the line when he had settled into this new family. What if he wanted to stay with Ten and Kun after they broke up because that's where his brothers were? What if Xuxi lost his baby too? There was absolutely no way he could cope with that. 

He shook his head, willing those thoughts away. He couldn't think about this right now. Not here. He needed to be alone. 

"I'll think about it." Xuxi's voice was quieter than either of them had ever heard before, but the rose dusting his cheeks was undeniable. He really did like them back, it was just a matter of whether he was ready for this or not. "I'm not really sure what I want right now, but I'll think about it."

 

☆☆☆

 

It had been almost two weeks since he last met up with Ten and Kun and Xuxi still had no idea what he was going to do. He had made list after list of pros and cons. He had tried to imagine life with them, and life without them. He had spoken Donghyuck's ear off, the younger eventually snapping and telling Xuxi not to call back until he had made a decision because he was sick of his whining. 

But he still hadn't made one. 

This was so fucking hard. Why couldn't he have just found a nice single guy that liked kids? Why couldn't he just have a normal relationship and get married and maybe have another baby with a girl that loved him and wasn't already married to someone else? 

"Are you okay?"

Xuxi jumped, turning to the door of the kitchen. He didn't realise anyone was still here. 

"Yeah."

"Really? Because it's nearly midnight and you're polishing spoons." Taeyong scoffed, leaning up against the door frame. 

Taeyong was the head chef of the restaurant Xuxi owned, he'd been with him from day one. Xuxi had been a little apprehensive about hiring a non-Thai chef, but Taeyong had proven himself. He had made Xuxi's mother's recipes his own, and they were absolutely amazing. 

"I'm just..." Xuxi sighed, placing the spoon down. He had no idea what he was doing. "I dunno. Stressed, I guess."

"I've told you to take more days off."

"It's not this place, it- It's something else."

"Something like...a girl?" Taeyong quirked an eyebrow in interest. He had known Xuxi long enough to know when the younger was pining. He had a habit of crushing on regulars or being absolutely devastated when one of his dates didn't call him back. 

"Close."

"So a boy, then." Taeyong nodded, hoisting himself up onto the stainless steel workbench Xuxi was stood at. "Go on then, tell me what's happened."

"It's complicated." Xuxi whined. "Like, beyond complicated."

"Because of Jun?" 

"Nah. They're fine with him, it's just-"

 _Their?_ Oh. Taeyong didn't want to snoop; he knew that not everyone used traditional male or female pronouns these days. Maybe that was the complicated part, this person's gender identity. 

"I don't even know where to start."

"At the beginning? You can tell me, Xuxi, this is clearly bothering you."

"So, I made friends with this couple, they have kids too, and Xiaojun absolutely adores them. We set up a few play dates and you should have seen how happy he was. Like, he finally made friends." Taeyong couldn't help but copy the smile on Xuxi's face as he thought about his son. It was obvious just how much he loved the kid. "But then things got kind of weird."

"Weird how?"

"Junnie, he overheard me talking to a friend about how...I had a bit of a crush on them. They'd just been so nice to me, you know? They helped us both out a lot and- I dunno, I had all these feelings I never expected to. Anyway, he heard and told the rest of the kids, and they all thought that meant they were going to be brothers. Like we were going to all get married or something."

"Shit." Taeyong breathed. That _was_ complicated. But it was just kids being kids, right? Surely it was easy enough to explain how things work. 

"But then...I found out they felt the same."

"They what?" Taeyong's jaw dropped. "But...are they married?"

Xuxi nodded. "They want to be with me. Both of them."

Taeyong's eyebrows shot up under dark hair. Wow. That was...wow. 

"Complicated may have been an understatement."

Xuxi chuckled under his breath. Yeah. No shit. 

"I'm just worried that I don't like them _that_ much. Like what if it's just a stupid school boy crush and I start this thing with them and it's not what I want? That would kill Xiaojun."

Taeyong hummed to himself. No wonder Xuxi had been moping around for weeks. 

"How often do you think about them?"

"Well, constantly at the moment. I can't think of anything but this crazy scenario."

"What about before all of this."

Xuxi shrugged. "A lot, I guess." 

"How do you feel whenever one of them texts you."

Xuxi rolled his eyes, knowing how dumb his answer was going to be. "I get butterflies."

Taeyong nudged him playful. That was cute. 

"Are they the first thing you think of when you wake up?"

"Yeah...them or Xiaojun."

"And what about at night?"

Xuxi flushed, avoiding eye contact with Taeyong, making the elder snort. 

"I'll take that as a big fat yes. How about when you kiss someone else? Do you think about kissing them instead?"

Xuxi furrowed his eyebrows. What? He hadn't- "I haven't kissed anyone in forev-"

His eyes shot wide open as Taeyong planted his lips on his own. What the fuck? Why was Taeyong kissing him? Did he- Did he have a crush on Xuxi too? Oh god. Why was he such a dick magnet? He couldn't cope with this. Ten and Kun were bad enough. Though, he _would_ much rather be kissing either of them. Kun looked like he knew what he was doing despite those college history professor vibes he gave off and Ten had the prettiest little pout and Xuxi knew fine well he uses mango flavoured lip balm and oh- Taeyong was pulling away. 

"Well?"

"Well what?" Xuxi's eyes were still like saucers, entire face beet red. "What the fuck was that?"

"What did you think?"

"Wh- I- You- I mean that was nice I guess but, I don't- Taeyong, I-"

Wait. 

Taeyong's lips curled up into a smile as the penny finally dropped. Xuxi _had_  been thinking about them throughout that kiss, hadn't he? 

"Don't worry, boss, I don't have a crush on you. I have a boyfriend, remember? Just needed to test a theory."

"I- Uh- What theory?"

"That you're clearly head over heels when it comes to these two. All you could think about while kissing me was them. _Me._ I'm pretty cute, you know."

Xuxi's jaw hung open. Oh god. He did. That was  _all_ he could think about. Was he- Was he really that into them? 

"I think you know what you want, Xuxi, you're just making excuses not to do it. You're scared of what people might think or of the consequences of it ending, but imagine if you went into every relationship like that? You'd be single forever."

"I...I'm just worried about Xiaojun. How this will affect him."

Taeyong sighed, placing a calming hand on Xuxi's shoulder. "You've put him first ever since you were sixteen. You're an amazing parent, Xuxi, but you have to think of yourself too. Xiaojun wants you to be happy."

Xuxi cast his eyes down. Taeyong was right. He did always put Xiaojun first, but that's because he always had his son's best interests at heart. He could never be selfish enough to choose a relationship over his baby. But maybe he could at least try to make this work. He really didn't want to be alone for the rest of his life. 

"Why not try dating in private to begin with? Don't tell the kids yet in case it gets their hopes up and you find it too hard. You deserve to be happy, Xuxi."

Xuxi sighed, looking up towards the ceiling in an attempt to stop himself welling up. He did, he knew that, it was just difficult to come to terms with. He wasn't used to putting himself first. His entire adult life had been dedicated to his son, but...he was finding it difficult to be on his own any longer. He wanted to be loved. He wanted someone _to_ love. Someone to come home to at night. Someone to wake up with in the morning. He wanted a relationship, a partner. 

Or maybe two. 

He wanted Ten and Kun. 

That's what his heart had been telling him this whole time, but he'd been putting barrier after barrier in the way, trying to talk himself out of his because it seemed so ridiculous. But maybe it wasn't. Taeyong genuinely didn't seem that shocked. Maybe it wasn't quite as weird as he first thought. 

"You're right." He smiled weakly, finally regaining eye contact with Taeyong. "I...I want to be with them, don't I?"

Taeyong nodded softly. "I think you do."

Xuxi broke out into a wide grin as realisation swept over him. He did. Holy fuck, he really did. This was crazy. He wanted to be a part of Kun and Ten's relationship. He wanted them to raise their kids together. He wanted to kiss them and cuddle them and make love to them and wake up in their arms.

"Oh my god." Xuxi let out a sigh of relief. The past few weeks had been hell, going over and over the same thing in his head. But now he'd finally come to a conclusion and...it honestly felt like the best decision he'd ever made. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." Taeyong giggled, swinging his legs back and forth slightly. "Go get your men."

 

☆☆☆

 

Xuxi hadn't even taken consideration the fact it was after one in the morning while he was driving to Kun and Ten's place. The lack of cars on the road or the drawl of the night time radio presenter coming from his speakers hadn't alerted him because he was far too excited. He hadn't seen Kun or Ten in what felt like forever and he was in his way to confess to them. Go tell them he wanted to give this a go. 

It wasn't until he was stood outside of their front door, fist poised, ready to knock, that he realised. Fuck. They, and all five of their children would most definitely be asleep. Great. 

What was he meant to do now? He couldn't just go home. The adrenaline he's built up from his talk with Taeyong would be long gone by the morning and what if then he didn't have the courage to say anything? No. He had to do it now. But he couldn't very well knock and risk waking the kids up too. 

So he decided to ring instead. He chose Ten's number, knowing the younger of the two would be more likely to sleep with his phone nearby. 

After seven painfully long rings someone finally picked up and he was met by the most beautifully groggy sleep voice. 

"Hello?"

"Hi! Ten? It's Xuxi, I...I'm outside."

"What?"

"I'm outside. In your front garden."

"Wh- Why?" Ten was still clearly half asleep. "Are you drunk?"

"No! I'm just- Can you come down here. Please?"

Ten groaned. He was so warm and cosy and Xuxi wanted him to go _outside?_

"Seriously? Can't this wait until the morning?"

"No. I have something to tell you both and I need to say it now or I'm scared I never will."

Xuxi swore he heard Ten sit bolt upright though the phone.

"Kun! Wake up." Xuxi heard Ten hiss down the phone followed by a faint groaning. Oh god they were so cute. All Xuxi wanted was to be up there with them. He wanted to see Kun wake up, eyebrows all furrowed as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes. His stomach was doing flips just thinking about it. "We'll be down in a second."

Xuxi rocked back and forth on his heels, waiting in anticipation. He was really doing this, wasn't he? He was about to enter a relationship with an already married couple. God, what would his parents say? In fact, what was _anyone_ going to say? 

Maybe...this wasn't such a good idea. Maybe it was just the adrenaline from Taeyong kissing him and he still hadn't thought this through and maybe he could run before the door opened or-

But then it did. 

And all those negative, stressed out thoughts left Xuxi mind the moment he laid eyes on the couple. They may be in their pyjamas; bleary eyes and hair a mess, but Xuxi wanted to be with them. More than anything. 

"H-Hey. Sorry for ringing but I didn't want to knock and wake the kids and- I- I know it's stupidly late but I just had like an...epiphany and-" Xuxi cleared his throat, suddenly feeling tiny under Ten and Kun's gaze, despite being significantly taller than the both of them. "I know what I want."

"You do?" Kun's eyes widened, heart beating hard in his chest. Was Xuxi about to say what he thought he was?

"I want..." Xuxi swallowed. This was it. These next few words were going to change everything. Going to turn their lives upside down. "I want you. Both of you."

Ten let out a squeal of delight (followed by a shushing from Kun as he pulled the front door to behind him, not wanting to wake any of the kids up), before he launched himself at Xuxi; arms wrapping tight around his waist, burying his face in his chest. God he had wanted to do that for _so_ long. 

Xuxi giggled as he hesitantly wrapped an arm around Ten. He was so _tiny_. It felt weird. Really weird, especially considering Kun was watching the two of them with a soft smile on his lips, but it felt right; having Ten in his arms. He just kind of...fit. 

"We want you too, right, babe?" Kun approached the two of them, fingers ghosting against Xuxi's wrist, as if he wanted to hold his hand or something but was too scared. This was all very new for him too. 

"Yes!" Ten beamed. He was always the more enthusiastic out of him and Kun. His husband was a lot more laid back and reserved, whereas Ten had no qualms about showing his true emotions. "We were so scared that we'd ruined everything when we hadn't heard from you for so long."

"Oh...sorry, I- I just needed to wrap my head around all of this."

"It's okay, we understand." Kun smiled, that dimple of his digging into his cheek, making Xuxi feel all warm and fluffy despite the fact it was the middle of the night and he wasn't even wearing a jacket. "Can I-" Xuxi's heart skipped a beat as he noticed the way Kun's eyes focused on his lips. "Can I kiss you?"

Wow. Xuxi hadn't- Well, of course he had thought about kissing Kun. But this soon? Right now? Outside of their house at one in the morning with Ten wrapped around him? Not at all. 

 But how the fuck could he say no? 

So he nodded, leaning in slightly to meet Kun halfway. His eyes fluttered shut as Kun's lips brushed up against his own, as their noses bumped together a little awkwardly, neither of them sure which way to go. He let Kun take over, the elder's hands resting against his cheek to pull him in closer as he moved against Xuxi's plush lips. This was so crazy. So perfect but _so_ crazy. He was kissing Kun while his husband watched. 

And Ten _was_ watching. He couldn't take his eyes off of them. He had seen his husband kiss other people over the years they'd been together. They had experimented in the past, but... He'd never seen Kun kiss anyone else like this before. Kiss someone how he would kiss Ten. So tenderly. This was different to any of the threesomes they'd had in the past, Ten knew that already. This wasn't just a quick fling to spice up their marriage. This felt real. 

"Wow." Ten breathed as the two of them pulled apart. He didn't feel jealous in the slightest - well, maybe a little, but only because he wanted to kiss Xuxi too, not because someone else was kissing his husband. Though, he wouldn't mind just standing here watching the two of them all night, either. Snuggled into Xuxi's chest as he and Kun made out. "That was...actually really cute."

Xuxi was glad it was dark out, because he knew fine well he was flushing. Kun could probably feel it, fingers still grazing his cheek. 

"Your turn." Kun smiled, nudging Xuxi's cheek softly so he was facing Ten. That was pretty amazing, and he wanted to share the experience with Ten too. 

Ten leaned up, standing up on his toes slightly. Xuxi was _so_ damn big and holy fuck did it excite him. In the past when he and Kun had threesomes, they always chose someone who was absolutely massive, to cater to Ten's height kink. He wasn't bothered at all that Kun wasn't that much taller than him, he loved him regardless. It wasn't something he needed to make him happy, but how broad Xuxi's chest felt under his fingers as he splayed them out to steady himself, how gigantic his hand was on the small of his back as they kissed keeping him in place. Ten was in heaven. 

"So were really doing this?" Ten breathed as he two of them parted, glancing over at his husband. 

"I guess we are." Kun's voice was barely above a whisper too, his breath taken away by the sight before him. 

"Could we...maybe keep things between us for now? At least don't tell the kids? Just in case this doesn't...you know."

"Yeah, we don't want to get their hopes up." Ten agreed, he could see where Xuxi's hesitation was coming from. "They're already so excited about becoming a family."

"We can't keep them apart any longer though, right? We should explain they're just friends...for now, at least."

"You know I hate lying to them, babe." Ten frowned. 

"You know how much they miss Xiaojun, though."

"Xiaojun misses them too. He's been so pouty and moody since everything kicked off."

"I guess it's in their best interest then..." Ten understood that sometimes they did have to lie to their kids but...hopefully soon they'd be able to tell them the truth. Hopefully this would all go to plan and the three of them could raise their babies together. As a family. He felt all warm and tingly just thinking about it. 

"Papa!" Kun heard his name being called from upstairs. Judging from how loud it was despite the fact the door was practically shut, he assumed it must be Chenle. 

"We better go back up." Kun would happily stay here and make out with Xuxi and Ten all night, but duty called. 

"Yeah... We'll text you or something? Go on like, a date." Ten giggled at the idea. He'd been married for seven years and was going on a first date. With his husband...and their new boyfriend. 

"That sounds great." Xuxi flushed even harder. This was crazy, but...it just might work. "You better get back in there."

Ten leaned up for one last kiss before running back inside as he heard crying. He couldn't put this before any of his kids. 

"See you later, Xuxi." Kun stole hinself one last kiss too. He couldn't let Ten have all the fun now, could he? He played with the younger's fingers a little as their lips moved against one another. He just had a _really_ good feeling about this. "I'm glad you want this too."

"So am I." Xuxi replied almost dopily. It had been a long time since anyone had an effect on him like this. Never mind two people. "See you soon."

Kun gave Xuxi one last little wave as he shut the front door behind him. He almost wished he had invited Xuxi over to stay the night in their spare room, but...then the kids would have asked a million questions. 

He peeked through the window, now things had settled down upstairs. Ten must have dealt with things. His chest tightened as he watched Xuxi walk to his car, that big goofy grin on his face as he did a little fist pump. How adorable. He felt like a teenager again. 

"Baby?" Kun poked his head around the door to the bedroom; Ten was already back, sat on the edge of the bed. "Is everything okay?"

"Chenle just dropped his bunny and couldn't find it." Ten smiled. The boy had fell straight back asleep once his father had passed it up off of the floor. 

Kun breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't anything serious. But...now he was wide awake. 

"How tired are you?"

"Why?"

"Just wondering." Kun practically purred, crawling along the bed to get closer to his husband, pressing a soft kiss to his nose. "Kinda want you to fuck me."

"Did making out with Xuxi really turn you on that much?"

"Sort of." Kun stole himself another kiss, knowing exactly how to get to his husband. "Please?"

"You're such a whiny baby." Ten giggled, pulling Kun down on top of him by the collar of his tee. "You usually make fun of me for that."

"You like when I make fun of you."

"I really do." Ten smirked, nibbling at Kun's bottom lip before sticking his tongue down the elder's throat. He reached down between Kun's legs, grabbing a handful of his bulge with a low chuckle. "Guess it's my turn to make fun of you tonight. For getting hard from a little kiss."

Kun moaned into Ten's mouth, letting him take control for a change. They liked switching it up every once in a while, it was one of the things that had kept their relationship from going stale after all these years. 

"We're gonna be so fucked for work tomorrow." God knows what time it was, but it was well past their usual ten o'clock bedtime. 

"Well it's your fault if we are fucked." Ten mused, not really caring at this moment in time even though he knew fine well he had to be up in a matter of hours to get the kids ready for school. "Since you wanted to be fucked so badly."

"Then do it already, I'm getting impatient."

"Such a needy baby." Ten pouted, arms wrapping around Kun's waist so he could flip him over and be on top. "Want Mommy to make you feel better?"

Kun whined at the name Ten used for himself. Holy fuck that was hot. He wondered whether Xuxi was into that too. Someone so much younger...10 whole years, referring to himself as Kun's Mommy. He felt his cock twitch at the very thought. 

"Yes please...Mommy." Kun added as an afterthought as Ten quirked an eyebrow. He just wanted to be fucked and go to sleep. It was far too late for messing around. "Fuck me."

Ten kissed Kun again, really, really deep, taking full control. He loved this man more than anything in the world, and he couldn't believe the two of them were taking on this whole new chapter of their lives together, with someone else Ten hoped they would both grow to love just as much. He couldn't believe that he had someone that loved him so much, that trusted him so much that the two of them could embark on something like this without it coming between them. There was no one he would rather do this with.  No one else he would ever do anything for. 

"Anything for you, baby."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos are always greatly appreciated!! pls let me know what u thought ♡  
> if you wanna shout at me abt anything feel free to add me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/lowkeyamen) or on [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/lowkeyamen/) and i also have a [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/lowkeyamen) if u have any questions and bc, well, i am despo for attention pls love me uwu thank u xo


	6. shells and sandcastles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg I am so sorry 😭😭 I honestly hadn't realised how long it had been since I last updated this but it's finally here!!!! Some more fluff from ur fave dads :')

"Daddy!"

"Hey cutie," Xuxi scooped Xiaojun up in his arms as the five-year-old came running over to him, "how are you?"

"Me and Uncle Hyuck played games all night it was fun!"

"I swear this kid is going to be an insomniac when he's older." Donghyuck groaned, rounding the corner to his living room. "I'm wrecked; I don't know how he isn't."

"He hates missing out on anything, don’t you, baby?"

"Yeah! Uncle Hyuck always lets me stay up late!"

Xuxi chuckled as he popped Xiaojun back down on the floor, telling him to go off and play for a little before they headed home because he needed to talk to Donghyuck. 

"Guess what." Xuxi sat down on the sofa, a wide grin on his face  

Donghyuck looked him up and down, eyes narrowing. 

"If you were out getting laid while I was looking after your son-"

"No! Better."

"Better than getting laid?" Donghyuck deadpanned. He honestly didn't know why he was friends with Xuxi sometimes. 

"Yeah! I may-" he lowered his voice, making sure there was absolutely no way Xiaojun would overhear, "have gotten myself a boyfriend...or two."

Donghyuck's eyes widened. Holy fuck. Was Xuxi saying what he thought he was? 

"Those DILFs? You're- Both of them?"

"Yeah, I went and told them I wanted to be with them too last night." Xuxi felt his face heat up again at the mere thought of what had happened the night before. "And we kissed...we're gonna start dating and stuff."

"Wow." Donghyuck couldn't really believe what he was hearing. This was so unlike Xuxi, but, he seemed really happy, and Donghyuck loved that. He knew Xuxi hadn't been in a proper relationship for a while, and it was something he desperately wanted. But having a kid at such a young age tended to get in the way. Hopefully being with someone - or a couple of people - who also had kids would make that easier. Hopefully this would work out. But... "How is this going to work?"

"What do you mean?"

Donghyuck shrugged. "I dunno. I don't really know anything about polyamorous relationships."

"Me either." Xuxi sighed. Part of his was wondering whether he should have thought this through a little more. Whether he was jumping into something crazy too fast. But...he was happy. And it felt like forever since he had been genuinely happy. "We're keeping it on the down low for now though. You know, so the kids don't get all excited."

"My lips are sealed, don't worry!" Donghyuck clapped his hands together. Xuxi couldn't stop smiling, and Donghyuck absolutely loved that. If Xuxi was happy, then he was happy. "I take it that means I'll be looking after Jun whole you're getting old man dick, then?"

"They're not _that_ old." Xuxi rolled his eyes. Nine years wasn't even that big of an age gap. Well...they didn't seem like they were that much older than him, anyway. He considered himself pretty mature for his age. He didn't really have much choice but to grow up quickly when Xiaojun came along. "But yeah, basically."

"I guess that's better than you spending your whole life at the restaurant. You seriously need to get a life."

"Thanks, Hyuck." Xuxi mumbled. He was actually a little worried this would make things worse. He already barely got to spend enough time with Xiaojun, what if he had even less time for his son now he was dating? He could always just hire someone else...but, he was _kind of_ a workaholic. He felt bad if he wasn't there all of the time. 

But he _did_ have to start putting himself first for a change. He had never really had a stable relationship because Xiaojun and work always took a priority. He had to provide for his son, after all. But the restaurant was doing well, really well, actually. He could definitely afford to hire another manager and delegate some of the workload. That would give him more time for Xiaojun _and_ Kun and Ten. 

"I _may_ consider hiring someone else."

"God, yes! Please! I've been saying this for _months._ You spend way too much time there, Xuxi. You deserve to let your hair down a bit."

"Yeah, I guess..." Xuxi felt the tips of his ears burn a little and he wasn't even sure why. Donghyuck always has his best interests at heart. He really was the best friend Xuxi could ask for. "And you won't have to look after Xiaojun as much anymore. You can get your own life back."

"You know I love having him, but...he misses you. A lot."

Xuxi felt his stomach churn. He knew he had to be there for Xiaojun more. He was getting older, he was more aware of the fact his father wasn't around that much. He didn't want to be an absent parent. Things might be a little tight for a while if he was having to shell out to pay someone else, but if it meant spending more time with Xiaojun then it would be more than worth it. 

"I miss him too." Xuxi hummed, looking over at his son as he played with a toy unicorn he'd grown attached too over the past few weeks. "Junnie? How about we go to the beach tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" The five-year-old sprung up out of his place on the floor, running over to his father. "Is Uncle Hyuck coming too?"

"Nah, it'll just be me and you." Xuxi shot Donghyuck an apologetic look, knowing how much the younger loved the beach. He needed some one on one time with his favourite boy. "We can get ice cream and go in the sea!"

Xiaojun clapped his hands in response. How exciting! He and his Daddy haven’t spent much time together recently and he couldn't wait! 

"I have a surprise for you too."

"A surprise?" Xiaojun bounced on the spot, hands on Xuxi's knees as he tried to pull himself up into his father's lap. "What is it?"

"You'll find out tomorrow." Xuxi leaned down to scoop Xiaojun up in his arms, making the boy giggle excitedly. He had already texted Kun and Ten, asking if they wanted to bring the boys along tomorrow. He knew Xiaojun would be over the moon when he saw all of his friends again for the first time in weeks.

He pressed a kiss to Xiaojun's nose before standing up, ready to leave. He had popcorn waiting in the car for a Disney movie night once they were back at their own place and he couldn't wait to spend the whole night with his baby. "Let's get you home, huh?"

 

☆☆☆

 

"Daddy, look! I found another shell!" Xiaojun ran over to his father, almost tripping in the sand. 

"Put it in your bucket, so long as no one’s living in it." Xuxi crouched down, offering Xiaojun’s plastic sandcastle bucket up to his son. It was slowly filling up with pretty stones and shells and sea glass. 

"Who would live in a shell? They're so tiny." Xiaojun squinted his eyes as he tried to see inside the hardened spiral. It didn't look like anyone was living there...

"Like, crabs and snails and...barnacles and stuff." Xuxi didn't actually know if that last one was right, but, it's not like a five-year-old was going to correct him. 

"Huh. Well this one’s empty!" Xiaojun popped it in his bucket before skipping off to find some more. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with his little collection, but they looked pretty. And that's all that mattered. 

"Jun! We're going this way!" Xuxi pointed in the opposite direction of where his son was headed. 

"But we've been that way!"

"Yeah, but this is where your surprise is going to be." Xuxi beamed. He had already texted Kun and knew that the family were down the other side of the beach he and Xiaojun has just come from. His heart swelled as Xiaojun squeaked with excitement. He couldn't wait for his son to see his friends again. And honestly, he couldn't wait to see Ten and Kun either. 

"Okay! Let's go!"

Xuxi chuckled to himself as Xiaojun took off in the opposite direction. He had no idea what this surprise was, but he was excited to find out.

"Daddy, hurry up!"

The two of them wandered down the beach, Xiaojun stopping every so often to pick up another shell or play with a cute puppy out on a walk. Xuxi absolutely loved this, being out here with his son, watching him enjoy himself. He hoped to god he would be able to find someone to take some of the load off at work. All he wanted was to spend as much time as possible with Xiaojun, to give him the attention he deserved. 

"I'm coming! Slow down!" Xuxi laughed as Xiaojun skipped off ahead. He jogged to catch up with his son, bending down to scoop him up so he couldn't run off too far and get lost considering it was slightly busier down this end of the beach. He bounced Xiaojun in his arms as he kept an eye out for the Qian's and their kids, making the five-year-old giggle as he wrapped his arms around Xuxi's neck. He was in his element. Spending the day at the beach with his Daddy? He couldn't think of anything more perfect. 

"Daddy...can we get ice cream soon?" Xiaojun asked, his little fingers playing with the dangly cross in his father's ear as they made their way up the beach. 

"Maybe, we'll have to see what your friends want to do."

Xiaojun furrowed his eyebrows slightly. Friends? What friends? What was his daddy talking abo-

"Xiaojun!"

The boy turned his head, letting out a delighted squeal as he saw Sicheng running towards him, closely followed by Kunhang and the rest of their brothers. 

"Chenggie!" Xiaojun squirmed in Xuxi's arms until his father let him jump down, before running over to the Qian kids. He had missed them so much! He thought maybe they'd never see each other again after they told the adults secrets because he knew that was wrong, but here they were! He was back with his friends! 

"Surprise, baby!" Xuxi beamed as the boys all surrounded Xiaojun, hugging him and jumping up and down with excitement. "Are you happy to see your friends again?"

"Yes, Daddy!" Xiaojun giggles, running over to hug his father's leg for a split second before re-joining the boys, scared that if he left for too long they'd be ripped away from them again. 

"They missed you too, Xiaojunnie." Kun crouched down behind the boys after racing to keep up with them. How were kids with such little legs so damn fast? Even Chenle had managed to outrun him. 

"Papa, can we go play?" Renjun pleaded the rest of his brothers joining in. They had missed Xiaojun so much and had so many games they had to show him! 

"Sure you can, just don't go too far." Ten smiled, ruffling the four-year-old's hair. "And don't go in the water without an adult!" He shouted as an afterthought, knowing Yangyang would have made a beeline for the ocean given the chance. 

Xuxi watched as the boys ran off together, showing Xiaojun a giant hole they had been digging earlier. Kids were so weird. But Xuxi loved his kid. A lot. And he was beyond happy to see him smile now he's been reunited with his friends. He had been so miserable in the couple of weeks they had been apart and it absolutely killed Xuxi.

"So..." Ten nudged Xuxi with his shoulder, getting closer, but not...too close. He didn't want the kids to get suspicious or anything. "It's been a while."

"It's been three days." Kun teased. Ten was just as bad at flirting as when they first met. Yet...somehow he managed to fall for him.

"Yeah, but..." Ten whined, arm linking with his husbands. "I missed kissing him."

Xuxi blushed as Kun chuckled under his breath. He had a feeling he was going to be doing a lot of blushing while Ten was around. Goddamnit.

"Well, you can't exactly do that right now, can you?" Kun pulled Ten back over to where they were sat before. The two of them had packed a little picnic with blankets and the kid’s favourite beach toys and snacks and towels for if they needed to be dried off later on. They were so prepared, and it made Xuxi feel a little inadequate, standing there with his bucket full of shells and a juice box in his backpack. "You two can't make out in front of the kids."

"They might not even notice." Ten raised his eyebrows suggestively as Kun rolled his eyes. Ten was only joking, there was no way they could let the kids in on this yet. Not until they knew whether things would work out. He just liked to tease the elder. "No, but seriously, when are we going on a date or whatever? I'm dying for a night out."

"Night out?" Kun scoffed. "You're not going to get totally wasted in front of our new boyfriend, are you?"

"That depends how quickly he wants to get me in bed." Ten sing-singed, prodding Xuxi in the arm as he settled down on the blanket next to them, now well beyond blushing. He was beetroot.

"You're going to scare him off before we even get the chance to go on a date." Kun shook his head, passing Xuxi over a can of coke. He looked like he needed it, to press up against his face is anything. "How about we keep it simple to start with, hm? Go see a movie, have a nice meal after. Surely sex is going to complicate this even more."

"You realise we're dating a young person now, right?" Kun was so boring at times.

"No, I-" Xuxi started. He didn't want to let Ten down, he seemed like he wanted a wild night, but... That wasn't really Xuxi's scene. At least not yet. God knows how much of a fool he'd make of himself if he got bladdered in front of his new boyfriends. It felt weird even referring to them as that. They hadn't even been on a real date yet... "I love going to the movies. I'm happy with that."

Ten pouted. He wanted to pretend he was still young and carefree like when he was in university. Get some shots, dance until he couldn't anymore, maybe even get a big dirty kebab on the way home. But...how could he say no to a face as cute as Xuxi's?

"Okay, fine! We'll do that _this time_. But you two are taking me dancing one night, okay? I want to see Xuxi's moves."

He wasn't sure it was possible, but Xuxi could swear his face heated up a few more degrees as Ten winked at him. He wondered if he would even be able to handle being in this relationship. What if his face _actually_ melted off before they even got to kiss again? God, he was such a mess.

"What night is best for you, Xuxi?" Kun wrapped his arms around Ten’s shoulders, pulling the younger into a brief hug. They were so cute. It made Xuxi a little jealous, actually. He wanted a cuddle too. But he knew they couldn't. Not yet. We know you have the restaurant to think about."

"Oh... Well, I'm actually off all next week in the evening. I'm only working the day shift."

"Is everything okay?" Kun questioned. He knew Xuxi usually worked around the clock. He really hoped that they didn't have to shut at night or something now. What if Xuxi couldn't afford to stay open? That would've awful.

"Oh, yeah! I actually hired another manager. Someone to deal with things while I'm not there."

Ten’s eyes lit up. "Oh my god! That's amazing! I bet Xiaojun's so excited!"

"Yeah, he is." Xuxi laughed under his breath. The two of them had been able to spend so much more time together now he wasn't stuck at the restaurant day and night. He finally had time for his number one boy. "I am too, to be honest. I hate that I've missed so much of his childhood already."

Kun's eyes fixed on Xuxi's profile as he watched the boys play, a sad smile on his face. Poor kid.

"You did what you had to do to give him the best life possible. You've worked so hard to provide for him, Xuxi. Try not to think of it like that. At least you have the means to make more time for him now."

"Yeah, don't put yourself down like that. You're an amazing father. I know I'd never be able to cope with a kid at your age." Ten squeezed Xuxi's arm reassuringly before turning to his husband. 

"Remember when Kunhang was born? We were like twenty-four and we could barely cope."

"You were so tried you locked both him and your keys in the car."

"And _you_ forgot his name when you introduced him to my work friends. He was like eight months old. And he's literally named after you."

"You gave him an overdose that one time. Remember? He had a fever and you couldn't find the medicine spoon so you just tried to tip a little in his mouth and-"

"Okay stop, I was very tired then too. He'd been up crying all night."

"He called poison control, crying, cause he thought he was gonna die."

"He could have!" Ten gasped. That was a very scary time for him. Though, looking back...he _may_ have overreacted. Just a little. "Remember- Oh my god!"

Kun furrowed his eyebrows as Ten buckled over, hysterics over taking him as he remembered something. He dreaded to think what it was. "Okay this is pretty awful; please don't judge us, but when Renjun was little-"

"Ten." Kun narrowed his eyes. He could see where this was going. 

"It's too late, I'm telling him. Okay, so when he was little, he would only sleep if he was really tightly swaddled."

"We're talking, like, unable to move his arms or legs. At all."

"But then as he got a little bigger and stronger, he would wriggle out of his swaddle at night and he would _always_ wake up crying. Wouldn't he?"

Kun grunted in agreement. Renjun had always been the worst sleeper out of all of their kids. Still was. 

"So one night, we..."

"I still can't believe we did this."

"We were absolutely wrecked! We had three kids at this point!" Ten nudged Kun, reminding him of how hard things were back then. "So anyway, we swaddled him up nice and tight and then we...duct taped him."

Xuxi took the worst possible moment to take a drink of his cola because he only just had enough time to turn to the side and spit his drink everywhere. 

"Duct tape?" He choked out, trying to regain composure. 

"Yep." Kun sighed. It wasn't exactly something he was proud of...and he was pretty sure social services would have a field day with that one. But they we're tired. Like. Really tired. And sometimes...parents do dumb things.

"Wow, that's..."

"Crazy? Yeah. They make us a little crazy sometimes."

"But we love them anyway." Ten mused, a soft smile on his lips as he watched the boys play. They had decided to bury Sicheng in the sand now, the eldest of them commanding the rest of the boys around, making sure every part of his body was covered. "So seriously, don't stress over the fact you had to work a lot to support your son. You only want what's best for him. We know that."

Xuxi whispered out a soft thanks. No one had ever really complimented him on his parenting besides Donghyuck before - and he kind of has no choice. He was Xuxi's best friend, after all.

"So..." Kun rested his head on Ten’s shoulder, looking across at Xuxi expectantly. "When are you going to let us take you out? I might even let you kiss my husband again."

Xuxi thought he had gotten over flushing for today, but clearly not. Not now Kun has reminded them of their upcoming date. 

"Like I said, I can do whenever. My friend can look after Xiaojun."

"Let's do Friday, then. I'm off that day so I can get Jungwoo to do my hair!" Ten clapped his hands together, this was so exciting! He and Kun never got to go on dates. And now they were going on one with someone else too! 

"That sounds great." Xuxi smiled softly, his stomach beginning to twist. This was so crazy. As if he was going on a date with a married couple. He'd been alone so long he could barely remember what dating was like with one person, never mind two. 

"You can choose where we eat, we like pretty much anything."

"And we're paying:"

"Oh...you don't- we can split it." Xuxi started as Kun shook his head. 

"You treated us last time, now it's our turn to spoil you."

"That was a thank you, th-"

"Don't care." Kun held his hand up, signalling for Xuxi to stop. He didn't want to hear it. They were treating him and that was that. "We're paying."

"I would just listen to him if I were you." Ten whispered under his breath. "Never pass up a free meal. That's actually how we got together. I was hungry and Kun had a buy one get one free Subway voucher."

"How do you manage to make our first date sound even less romantic than it was?" Kun scoffed. He wished Ten would just lie, make up some fantastical story about how Kun swept him off of his feet and how he fell instantly. But no...he was just in it for the sandwich. 

"It's what made me fall for you! If _I_ had a subway voucher, I'd have bought both sandwiches for myself. I thought it was cute you wanted to give me one." Ten poked his finger into Kun’s dimple, making the elder squirm. "Plus, he paid for all of our dates for the first three months, as if I was going to say no to free food and great sex."

"Ten!" Kun choked out. They were supposed to be courting Xuxi and- The kids were barely meters away and- God. Why did he marry someone who had absolutely no filter? 

Xuxi laughed under his breath. He had never been with anyone like Ten and Kun before. They were so perfect together. All he wanted was to be part of that. 

"Sounds great. I'll be there."

 

☆☆☆

 

Ten shuffled in his seat, trying his hardest to stay awake. There was something about the cinema that sent him to sleep. The cushy velvet chairs, the dim lighting, the boring ass movies Kun would choose. 

But he couldn't fall asleep. Not tonight. It was their first date with Xuxi. He couldn't just nap through it. 

So...he'd have to find another way to amuse himself because the new Too Fast Too Furious just wasn’t doing it for him. Just as well he was sat next to a cutie with amazing lips that he could easily kiss for the next hour or so. 

He pushed the armrest between him and Xuxi up so he could snuggle into the younger. Movie dates were his least favourite dates. He didn't like the sitting in silence, or that the attention was on some film instead of him, but he was sure he could fix that. 

He nuzzled into Xuxi's shoulder, an arm sneaking around his waist, making the boy jump a little. He could feel the way Xuxi tensed up, before relaxing into Ten’s hold. So cute. 

He sighed, a little dramatically, maybe he could liven this movie up a little...

Ten let his fingers wander a little, gently massaging into Xuxi's skin, as a not so subtle reminder he was there, maybe hoping to distract him from the movie. 

He turned his head, just a little - enough so his nose was bumping against the younger's neck, allowing himself to breathe Xuxi in. And he smelt so good. Fuck. Ten just wanted to latch onto his neck and bite down, but...he probably shouldn't. It was too early for that. 

But it wasn't too early for kisses, right? 

He pressed his lips to Xuxi's neck in a fleeting kiss that made the blonde jump. He didn't shy away though; in fact he seemed to lean in, to snuggle in a little closer to Ten, head titled slightly. Ten took that as an invitation, pressing a trail of kisses up Xuxi's neck, giggling softly to himself as the younger moaned under his breath. 

He absolutely loved this; dating. Don't get him wrong, he would never leave Kun for someone new, even if he enjoyed the whole 'getting to know each other' thing, because he had already struck gold with his husband. Sure, he knew Kun like the back of his hand, but he loved everything about him. 

But this was so much fun. The cheeky kisses in a dark cinema. The tentative hand holding. Learning all about Xuxi's past. Discovering all of his little quirks. 

He absolutely loved dating. 

And he loved that he got to do this with his husband too. It truly was the best of both worlds. 

"This movie is so boring." Ten whispered close to Xuxi's ear as he made his way up the others neck. "Wanna make out?"

Xuxi was glad they were in a dimly lit theatre because he was pretty sure his entire face was bright red. Ten was so forward, he wasn't used to it. But...he kind of liked it. Someone else taking control, leading the way. Maybe that's why none of his previous dates had worked out. He was too nervous to do anything; he needed someone to guide him. And maybe Ten was that person. 

So he nodded softly, head tilting to the side as he let Ten take control of the kiss. 

Xuxi hummed to himself as Ten caught his plush lips between his own thinner ones. He liked kissing Ten. A lot. He hadn't had the chance to, aside from that first night, but he was a really good kisser, and it made Xuxi's stomach flutter. 

And then something else began to flutter a little further down as Ten’s fingers danced across his chest, as he deepened the kiss. 

"That's more like it." Ten giggled against Xuxi's lips. Why on earth would be want to watch dumb men drive around when he could be making out with this cute boy instead? 

Ten's hand found it's way to Xuxi's hair, fiddling with blonde strands as he pulled the younger in closer, the other slowly trailing down his chest. He moaned as he felt the outline of Xuxi's abs underneath his thin shirt holy fuck. God he could feel himself getting hard. Why was he such a slut? Why did literally everything turn him on? 

Though, in his defence movie theatres brought back a lot of memories for him. He wasn't sure Xuxi was ready for him to get on his knees and suck him off like he had done with Kun one to many times in the past. Not yet, anyway. Give it another couple of dates. 

But this kissing was nice too. Really nice. 

Until they were rudely interrupted. 

Ten let out a muffled yelp as something came into contact with his thigh, instantly knowing it would have been his husband that was ruining his fun. 

"What?" He hissed, glaring at Kun in the dark of the theatre. "You jealous?"

Kun glared back, before his eyes flickered over to Xuxi tor a second. He had been ready to tell Ten off because they should really be watching this movie they paid for, but...

"...Maybe."

Ten bit down on his bottom lip as he cocked his head towards Xuxi, urging Kun to follow suit and kiss him too. He knew that was what he wanted. How could he not? 

Kun looked over at Xuxi, silently asking for permission. His eyes were so damn big Kun was a little worried he'd get lost in them if he stared too long or something just as cliché. 

His lips quirked up as Xuxi nodded, the two of them thinking the exact same thing. So Kun leaned in, eyes fluttering shut as he kissed Xuxi. Again. 

And it made his skin tingle. Make his stomach flutter. Made his fingers twitch; desperate to grab onto the younger and deepen their kiss because Xuxi honestly had the best lips he'd ever had planted on his own. He wouldn't tell Ten that, though, he didn't fancy sleeping on the sofa tonight. 

But he restrained himself, because he didn't want to push anything. He wanted to make sure Xuxi was totally comfortable with them, and though he seemed like he was, Kun didn't just want to assume. 

"I love watching you two kiss." Ten pouted as the two of them pulled apart. They were so damn cute. He hated that they were in this dumb cinema where they couldn't even talk properly or take things any further. He would most definitely be picking their next date night. 

"Oh yeah? You'd rather watch us than kiss him yourself?"

Xuxi laughed softly as Ten whined. He absolutely loved Kun and Ten's relationship, and he loved that they were willing to let him experience it with them. 

"No! I wanna kiss him too, obviously." Ten leaned across Xuxi’s lap to press a chaste kiss to the top of his husband's nose. "And you."

Xuxi flushed as Ten used his knee as a rest, allowing him to get even closer to Kun. The two of them were practically making out in his lap and Xuxi was genuinely worried he might pop a boner if he kept staring. But he couldn't look away. They were both gorgeous, eyelashes fanned out against cheekbones, soft moans coming from Ten as Kun’s fingers carded through his hair. They were so in love, anyone could see that. And Xuxi just hoped that...maybe...one day...he could be part of that too. 

He knew it was crazy, but he really felt like it could happen. He felt like there could be _something_ between them. Something special. 

"Hey!"

The three of them jumped as a light was shined on them, Kun trying to shield his eyes as he pulled away from his husband. 

"You're disturbing people." Oh fuck. It was one of the stewards...and people in the rows in front were staring at them. 

Maybe Ten’s moans hadn't been as soft as they first thought. 

And he found that hilarious. 

Ten scoffed before full on laughing. The things he had done in the back row of a cinema and _this_ was what he got caught for? Some harmless smooching? Hilarious. 

"Ten." Kun hissed under his breath as Xuxi slouched in his seat, trying to hide behind the tiny man, to no avail. Oh god this is so embarrassing. 

"What? It's funny." Ten stood up, shrugging his jacket onto his shoulders. "Come on, let’s go."

"But...the movie."

"Oh please, as if any of us are watching it. Let's go somewhere else and have some _actual_ fun."

Kun’s lips quirked up a little, this was classic Ten. He caught Xuxi’s gaze, silently asking if he was okay with that, to which the younger replied with a soft nod. 

Kun couldn't help but smile; he should have seen this coming, really. Ten sitting still for an entire movie? No chance. So he joined his husband, took Xuxi’s hand and pulled him up too. The movie was pretty boring, to be fair. He was sure they could have way more fun somewhere else. 

Ten shot the steward a smug grin as the three of them waltzed out of the thwarted, fingers intertwined and unable to hold their giggles back. 

"That wasn’t  _quite_ how I expected our first date to go." Kun mused to himself as they walked through the lobby of the cinema, fingers still linked with Xuxi’s. "What should we do now?"

"We should go to a bar and find a nice, quiet booth." Ten leaned his head on Xuxi’s shoulder, he loved that he was just the right height. "I wanna make out with you all night..."

Xuxi would have to get over this blushing thing every time Ten looked at him, or he was pretty sure he was going to end up passing out from the amount of blood that was rushing to his face. But the way his eyes sparkled with mischief...he couldn't help it. Xuxi just wanted to lunge in and kiss him on the spot. 

But he'd wait. He'd be sensible and wait until they were somewhere more appropriate. 

"Or at least until we have to go home and put the babysitters out of their misery."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos are always greatly appreciated!! pls let me know what u thought ♡  
> if you wanna shout at me abt anything feel free to add me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/lowkeyamen) or on [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/lowkeyamen/) and i also have a [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/lowkeyamen) if u have any questions!! i also have a [ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/lowkeyamen) uwu  
> 

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are always greatly appreciated!! pls let me know what u thought ♡  
> if you wanna shout at me abt anything feel free to add me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/lowkeyamen) or on [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/lowkeyamen/) and i also have a [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/lowkeyamen) if u have any questions and bc, well, i am despo for attention pls love me uwu thank u xo


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